The First Year
by JessCM09
Summary: They say the first year is the hardest and yet as Emily and JJ approach their first wedding anniversary, they can't help feeling like life couldn't get any better. As the couple has found a balance between work and home life they begin making plans for their family's future. Meanwhile with Alex now 16 Emily and JJ are finding that their little girl is growing up.
1. Chapter 1

**Friends! I'm BACK!**

 **To all of you have been reading my Rizzoli and Isles story, thank you. To those of you who have been waiting for my return here THANK YOU! With Emily's return to the show I have found that I really wanted to return to this story.**

 **So I've decided to start this story almost a full year after the end of my last story. I will do my best to update as much as possible, but I would like to continue with my Rizzoli and Isles stories as well, so updates may not be as frequent as usual. I promise to do my best!**

 **Really hope you'll enjoy this! -J**

 **Chapter 1**

"I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life," Emily groaned as she pulled the car into their driveway early on a Sunday morning, the sun having not yet risen. "I don't even know if I can make it inside."

"Yeah well back to back cases will do that to you," JJ nodded with a yawn. "I don't ever want to go to Florida again," she laughed lightly, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "You coming inside with me or you sleeping out here?"

"I haven't decided yet," Emily replied with a yawn of her own.

"Well if you come inside you can see Alex and Henry," JJ said, gathering her things, ready to head inside. "But by all means stay and sleep here if you like."

Needing no other reason to get out of the car, Emily grabbed her own things and followed JJ into the house, the couple smiling as Sergio eventually slinked down the stairs as if to see who was coming in. "Hey Serg," Emily greeted quietly, bending down to pet the cat as soon as she reset the house alarm. "Have you been taking care of our girl while we were gone?" She smiled as the cat rubbed himself against her leg. "So what's the plan?" She asked, turning towards JJ. "Check in on Henry first then Lex?"

Nodding, the couple eventually headed upstairs making their way into Henry's room where the now one-year-old blonde lay fast asleep in his crib.

"He looks so peaceful," JJ whispered, running her hand over the little boys head. "He's getting so big."

"I swear he gets bigger every time we come home," Emily agreed with a smile. "It's going way too fast."

"I agree," JJ nodded, the pair simply standing and watching their son sleep for a few more minutes before she eventually reached out for Emily's hand. "Come on I don't want to wake him."

Still hand in hand the couple quietly left Henry's room before heading for Alex's, making their way inside to find the teen sprawled out across her bed, putting a smile on both women's faces. Unable to resist, Emily carefully sat on the edge of the teen's bed, immediately running her fingers through the younger girl's dark hair.

"M-Mommy?" Alex squinted her eyes open. "Mum?"

"Hi Sweetheart," Emily leaned over, placing a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Sorry to wake you; we just missed you."

"I missed you too," Alex replied sleepily as she shuffled over so she could lie in the center of her bed, patting the spots on each side of her. "Stay here. Sleep," she mumbled, her eyes still closed. "Stay."

Chuckling softly, Emily got under the covers while JJ climbed onto Alex's other side, also getting into bed, neither caring that they were still wearing the clothes they had flown home in.

"Sweet dreams Baby," Emily kissed one side of Alex's head.

"We love you," JJ kissed the other side.

"Love…you…too," Alex replied before all three females allowed sleep to take them.

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Though they had only really gotten a couple hours of sleep, Emily and JJ were happy to be up enjoying breakfast with Henry and Alex that morning. Jessie, who had noticed that Emily and JJ had returned home, had made pancakes for breakfast, handing Henry off to JJ as soon as the couple had made their way downstairs.

"Welcome home," the redhead greeted with a smile. "Coffee's fresh and pancakes will be ready in a few. Take a seat," the nanny instructed.

"Have we mentioned lately that we love you?" JJ practically moaned as she took a sip of coffee, holding Henry in her other arm. "Because we do. Seriously."

"Well the feeling's mutual," Jessie smiled, returning to the stove as Emily and JJ made their way to the dining room table.

"Is Lex coming down?" Emily asked.

"She was just sending Spencer a text when we came down. She should be here soon," JJ answered handing a wiggling Henry over to Emily. "Did you miss your Mommy Henry? Hmm? I know she missed you."

"I sure did," Emily smiled, kissing the little blonde all over his face, eliciting adorable giggles from the toddler. "I missed you so much."

"Ma!" Henry, who hadn't yet mastered Mommy, exclaimed while placing a hand on Emily's cheek. "Al!" He then shouted, turning towards the stairs where his sister was coming down.

"Hey Monkey," Alex smiled greeting her little brother with a kiss before taking a seat next to JJ.

"Al, Al," Henry chanted, holding out his arms for the teen, who looked slightly guilty when Emily put him on the ground and the small blonde toddled towards her.

"And it looks like we will always come second place to his big sister," Emily sighed, leaning back in her chair as Jessie brought over a plate of pancakes. "Thank you Jessie."

"Sorry Mom," Alex apologized as she lifted Henry up onto her lap. "But Henry and I are best buddies. You just can't mess with that."

"Yeah, yeah," Emily rolled her eyes, smiling as Alex fed her brother a small piece of pancake, loving how close the pair had become. "So what are your plans for the day kiddo?"

"Well since I didn't know you guys would be home today I was gonna go hang out with Spencer," Alex replied, feeling bad. "Sundays are basically the only days she doesn't have any sort of volunteering, but I could stay home," she was quick to suggest. "I mean I'll totally stay and hang with you guys."

"Don't be ridiculous," JJ immediately shook her head. "Go spend time with your girlfriend, we understand."

"Yeah but maybe you could bring Spencer over later for dinner?" Emily suggested, wanting to spend time with her daughter at some point that day.

"Okay sure," Alex nodded happily. "We were just gonna hang out at her house this afternoon but we'll come back here after. I should actually go up and get ready," she glanced at the time, standing up and kissing Henry's head before handing him over to JJ. "Thanks Moms!"

"No problem honey," Emily replied even though Alex was already halfway up the stairs. "Notice she didn't suggest Spencer coming over here for the day?" She said, turning to JJ.

"I think that our daughter would rather some alone time with her girlfriend," JJ replied with a smirk, not missing the rather horrified look on her wife's face. "They're 16 Em, they aren't going to want to hang out with us all the time," she said, passing Henry over to Emily. "But don't worry I'm willing to bet we can convince Henry to hang out with us today. Huh Buddy? What do you say you swim with your Mommies today? Sound good Mommy?"

"Sounds good," Emily smiled, kissing Henry's head. "Sounds really good."

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It wasn't that Alex didn't want to hang out with her Moms. For a teenager, Alex spent a rather abnormal amount of time hanging out with her parents. Even Alex's friends enjoyed spending their time at the Jareau-Prentiss household, having voted Emily and JJ the coolest parents of the group.

Alex knew that Spencer would have come over to her house if she asked her, but Alex knew they would never get a moment alone if they did, and Spencer's house had something that Alex's house lacked completely; privacy.

"Where are your parents again?" Alex asked, breathing heavily as she lay underneath Spencer who was also panting heavily.

"At the club for the day with Melissa and Wren," Spencer replied before once again joining their lips together.

"Well thank goodness for that," Alex grinned between kisses, the young couple engaged in a rather intense make-out session. "God Spence."

"Hmm," Spencer couldn't help but grin against her girlfriend's lips, placing a leg between Alex's as she began to sneak a hand up the shorter brunette's shirt.

It wasn't until Alex felt her girlfriend's fingers on her ribs that she suddenly stiffened. "Wait," she pulled away, still breathing heavily as Spencer rolled off of her and onto the bed, both staring at the ceiling as they tried to catch their breath. "I'm sorry," Alex sighed, running her hand through her hair. "We should probably stop. I'm…I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Spencer shook her head, rolling on to her side. "I pushed too far. I'm sorry. I just got carried away."

"We both did," Alex also turned so she was facing her girlfriend. "It's kind of hard not to," she added with a small smile as Spencer leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss. "God I still want you so bad," she sighed, leaning her forehead against Spencer's. "It has been a year. I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't know why I keep doing this."

"Alex if you're not ready it's okay," Spencer was quick to assure her. "We agreed we would wait until we were both ready. Stop beating yourself up; we can wait."

"But you're ready," Alex said, leaning back so she could see the other brunette properly. "You are. Aren't you?"

"I'm ready when you're ready," Spencer replied tucking Alex's hair behind her ear. "I don't want to do anything you don't want to do. I love you Lex. No matter what."

Seeing that Alex looked both guilty and slightly embarrassed, Spencer kissed her girlfriend's forehead before placing kisses on her nose and cheeks, eventually joining their lips together, allowing Alex to dictate the pace.

"How about we just spend the afternoon wrapped up like this," Spencer suggested when they pulled apart, wrapping her arms around Alex's waist. "Then we'll go over and hang out with your Moms."

"Okay," Alex nodded, relaxing in her girlfriend's embrace. "But only under one condition," she then added, looking up into brown eyes.

"What's that?" Spencer raised an eyebrow.

"You kiss me some more," Alex grinned as she pulled Spencer closer.

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It was later that afternoon, after Henry and his Mothers had enjoyed a nap that Emily and JJ had brought the little blonde out to the backyard, ready for a dip in the pool. Emily, whose favourite summertime activity was swimming with Henry, was quick to put the one year old in his floatie before getting them both in the water.

"You know our anniversary is coming up," JJ said as she sat at the edge of the pool, putting her feet in.

"I heard that rumor," Emily nodded, her attention on pulling Henry around the pool, looking up for a moment to see her wife's face. "You just checking to see if I know the date? Because I know our anniversary is in a couple weeks."

"I know that," JJ sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm only bringing it up because I've been thinking about how we could celebrate the milestone."

"Oh yeah?" Emily raised an eyebrow. "And what, may I ask have you been thinking about?"

"Well Henry's over a year now," JJ began, falling suddenly nervous, something, which Emily picked up on right away. "And well…when we got married we agreed we would wait to start talking about having more kids but…I mean…well I just thought that maybe we could start…discussing it."

"Wait. What?" Emily spun so she was facing JJ, Henry floating happily between them. "Really?"

"Well…it could be a long process," JJ replied carefully. "So I just thought that we should start talking about it…making decisions. But…is that not…do you not want to?" She asked, her eyes filled with worry and fear.

"What? Yes! Yes of course I do!" Emily quickly assured the blonde, pushing Henry towards his other Mother so she could place a hand on her knee. "Of course I want that. I want that more than anything; you just surprised me that's all. I wasn't…I really wasn't expecting that," she grinned, standing on her tip toes to give JJ a kiss before turning her attention to Henry who was giggling as he splashed happily. "I would love to have another baby with you," she smiled. "Another little you running around sounds wonderful."

"Really? Because I was thinking more along the lines of another little _you_ running around," JJ replied, running her fingers through her wife's hair, not at all surprised by the shocked look on the brunette's face. "We'll talk about it?"

"We'll talk about it," Emily nodded still looking rather stunned.

"What will we talk about?" Alex interrupted the moment, coming into the backyard with Spencer, the young couple walking hand in hand.

"Hey you're back early," Emily greeted with a big smile, though she squeezed JJ's leg as if to assure her that they would indeed continue the conversation later.

"Yeah well we thought we'd come hang out," Alex shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal, though she knew that it was to both her Mothers.

"Well I like the sound of that," JJ smiled. "Go get your suits on and get in here girlies, we've missed you."

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"Thanks again for having me for dinner," Spencer leaned back against her chair, turning towards Emily and JJ. "It was great."

"You're welcome honey," JJ, who had made the group hamburgers, replied. "You're welcome anytime."

"We're always happy to have you here," Emily added with a smile. "We miss you when we're away just as much as we miss Alex and Henry."

"Probably more," Alex rolled her eyes. "You're definitely Mom's favourite child."

"Yes well Spencer appreciates my taste in movies and board games," Emily stuck her tongue out at her daughter. "Maybe if you were nicer to me I'd miss you more."

"I don't care what you say I will not watch sci-fi movies with you," Alex shook her head while absentmindedly reaching for Spencer's hand.

"I'm with Lex," JJ agreed, smiling at the small display of affection between the younger couple as she lifted Henry out of his highchair. "I will not get on board with that, and there is no way I am letting you corrupt Henry so I guess it's a good thing you have Spencer."

"Don't worry Emily I'll watch movies with you anytime," Spencer told the older brunette ignoring Alex who coughed 'suck up' into her hand. "Actually I've got a new one you and Reid would probably really like. We should watch it."

"Oh God if they're doing that we're going out Mum," Alex turned towards JJ. "There's no way I'm staying home while they have a nerd fest," she said, laughing as Spencer poked her in the ribs.

"You know what I think that sounds like a good plan," Emily replied as she glared at her daughter. "You and Mum can go out and watch one of your girly movies or do whatever it is that you two like to do. Me and Spencer will have plenty of fun without you."

"Yes we will," Spencer nodded firmly, holding up a hand for Emily to give her a high five as Alex snorted in an attempt to hold in a laugh, earning a glare from her girlfriend and Mother.

"Well then I guess we will just have to make this happen," JJ grinned, shaking her head at all three of the other females. "Maybe next weekend? But the only way that's going to happen is if Garcia babysits, because there's no way I'm leaving Henry with you for that."

"Oh please Jennifer," Emily scoffed. "Don't overestimate your best friend. Garcia will totally be joining us."


	2. Chapter 2

**I had originally planned on starting on my other story before writing this chapter but I had so many ideas in my head that I just had to write this first! I think I will start my next Rizzoli and Isles story next and then alternate between the two unless I get in a good rhythm on one. I'm going to do my best to keep updates regular!**

 **Thank you to everyone who is still reading this series even after all this time! I can't even begin to express just how much it means to me! -J**

 **Chapter 2**

"Two more days," Emily sighed, leaning back against her desk chair in the middle of the bullpen, taking a break from the constant stream of paperwork she had been working on all day. "We just need to make it two more days without a case and we may potentially have a weekend off."

"Unless we get a case over the weekend," Morgan pointed out, earning a glare from the brunette.

"Bite your tongue," Emily pointed a finger at the other profiler, sounding dead serious. "I cannot even remember the last time we had a weekend off."

"God me either. I don't even think I want to know the actual answer; at this point it will just make it even more depressing," Morgan nodded, leaning back in his own chair and turning to face Emily, needing the break himself. "You all still having your nerd-a-thon on Friday?"

"It is not a nerd-a-thon," Emily rolled her eyes, knowing that Morgan had gotten the term from JJ, who had been making fun of her all week. "But yes I am, and I'm looking forward to it, thank you very much. You're still coming right Reid?" She called out to the genius, who was still engrossed in his files.

"Garcia's driving me," Reid nodded, reading through his paperwork at a speed only he could handle. "I'm really looking forward to it. You should come Morgan."

"No thanks kid," Morgan was quick to deny. "I've got plans of my own, thank you very much," he added with a sly grin, telling Emily exactly what kind of plans he had.

"They still trying to get you to attend their geek fest?" JJ called, coming down the steps into the bullpen, narrowly dodging the pen that Emily immediately threw at her.

"They're trying, but it ain't happening," Morgan laughed, fist-bumping JJ on her way to Emily's desk. "You and Lex still hanging out Friday?"

"Yeah, although we still haven't decided what we're going to do," JJ smiled as she took a seat on the corner of Emily's desk. "I'm looking forward to it though. It has been a long time since Lex and I have spent time just the two of us. It's not often we can get her to spend a night without Spencer."

"That's very true," Emily nodded; rubbing a hand up and down JJ's leg, glad that the blonde would get to spend some quality time with their daughter. "And you know I'm actually really looking forward to getting to spend the extra time with Spencer."

"She seems like a really good kid," Morgan replied.

"She is," Emily was quick to agree. "I don't think we could ask for a better girlfriend for Alex; Spencer is like the most motivated teenager I've ever met. She volunteers like everywhere and she's involved in pretty much everything," she continued. "Plus she's incredibly smart and has wonderful taste in movies," she added making both Morgan and JJ laugh. "You know I don't even know why me and Spencer put up with you and Alex; always making fun of us," she gave the blonde a stern look that could not be taken seriously.

"Oh please," JJ scoffed. "You two would be lost without us."

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"You two seriously haven't had sex yet?" Olivia stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the department store she and Alex were shopping at, causing the brunette to spin on her heel with a rather shocked look on her face.

"Liv will you lower your voice," Alex hissed, grabbing the blonde's arm and pulling her towards the shoe department where they would be less visible to prying eyes and ears. "What the hell."

"But it's been a year," Olivia continued, apparently not even noticing her friend's distress. "You two have been together a year. How have you not…but I thought…Zoey and I thought."

"Yeah well obviously you thought wrong," Alex interrupted, her cheeks now flaring with embarrassment, clearly regretting the fact that she had brought the subject up to her friend.

"Yeah but you two are…and…I mean _come on!"_ Olivia continued in disbelief. "I mean Spencer is….I mean I'm completely straight and even I can admit that Spencer is hot…well you both are," she amended. "And you two have seemed so close and I thought…really?"

"Olivia yes, really," Alex huffed, unable to hide her annoyance. "Now can you please get over it? I didn't tell you this so we could discuss Spencer's hotness or mine. I need some advice here," she said, sounding slightly desperate. "God I knew I should have went to Zoey about this."

"What! No!" Olivia quickly protested. "No! I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm here. I'm listening. I'm ready to help," she put on a serious face, not wanting to upset her friend. "So you and Spencer aren't having sex."

"Right," Alex nodded unnecessarily. "And we…I want to," she said carefully, sounding slightly nervous. "I want to but I'm just…well I guess I'm kind of nervous."

"Well I'm pretty sure that's normal Lex," Olivia replied, watching the brunette carefully as she pretended to browse the shoe selection. "I mean I wouldn't know from experience but I'm pretty sure everyone's first time is pretty nerve-wracking."

"Yeah but Spencer's my best friend," Alex sighed.

"Yep," Olivia nodded.

"And I love her."

"I know," Olivia once again nodded. "But those facts don't make the sex part less scary. It's a big deal and it's a pretty big step in a relationship. It's going to change your relationship and I know that can be kind of scary."

"Yeah but that's not really the part that scares me," Alex shook her head, sounding frustrated, dropping down on a bench not far from where they were still pretending to browse; Olivia eventually following. "I love her and our relationship is like solid," she attempted to explain. "When we're together I want her…like I _really_ want her and I know our relationship will only get stronger because of it but…it's just…I guess it's the physical part that makes me nervous…does that make sense?"

"I get what you mean," Olivia replied. "Have you talked to your Moms about it?" She then asked receiving an incredulous look from Alex. "What? I'm serious! Your Moms would be way more helpful with this than I am! You should talk to them."

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"So I've been thinking," Alex plopped down on the couch between her Mothers later that night. "I know we talked about going to see a movie tomorrow night, but I thought maybe we could do something else," she said, looking to JJ. "I mean we can totally do that if that's what you would prefer but you can't talk at the movie theatre and I thought maybe it would be nice if we could actually talk and stuff tomorrow," she shrugged, trying to sound casual.

"Well I like the sound of that," JJ replied happily, a big smile on her face. "Did you have something in mind?"

"I don't know, maybe we could grab dinner and then go do something outside or something," Alex replied. "I mean it's summer. We could even just go for a walk maybe? I don't know."

"Okay well that sounds like a really good idea," JJ ran her hand over Alex's head. "We'll start with dinner and then go from there," she leant forward placing a kiss on the teen's head.

"Spencer told me to let you know that she'll be over right after she finishes at the nursing home or wherever she is tomorrow," Alex then told Emily, leaning in to JJ's side as the blonde wrapped her arm around her. "Shouldn't be later than 6."

"Perfect," Emily smiled, rubbing her hand up and down Henry's back, the little blonde currently fast asleep against her shoulder. "Garcia and Reid are coming over right after work as well and I'm going to pick up dinner on the way. Hey where's Olivia going to be tomorrow? She didn't want to join one of us?" She asked since the blonde hadn't missed a Friday night with Spencer and Alex all summer, while Zoey was away working at a camp for the next few weeks.

"She has a date," Alex replied. "This guy from school that she's been crushing on for like forever finally asked her out so they're going to a movie or something," she explained. "I really hope this one sticks because he's a really nice guy. His name's Eric and he's really smart and he's on student council and stuff."

"Well that's good," JJ was the one to reply. "You should tell her to come over Saturday night though. We haven't seen her in a while."

"I'll ask her," Alex nodded. "Would it be okay if Spencer stayed over tomorrow night though? I mean since she'll be here anyways?" She asked. "I thought we could hang out a bit when Mum and I get home."

"Sure sweetie but…" Emily began.

"She has to sleep in the guest room," Alex finished for her barely containing her eye roll. "I know," she said with a smile.

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It was quarter to 6 the next night when the doorbell rang, causing Emily, who had been trying to feed a squirming Henry, to huff out before heading for the front door. Knowing Garcia and Reid would still be picking up dinner, the brunette knew her daughter's girlfriend was arriving early, a fact, which she welcomed since Henry was not cooperating at the moment.

"Hey Emily, sorry I'm a little early," Spencer apologized as soon as Emily opened up the door. "I got home and no one was there so I just figured I would come by," she explained. "I brought snacks," she held up a grocery bag with a smile.

"Well come on in," Emily grinned, holding the door wide so the younger brunette could make her way inside. "Garcia and Reid should be here in about half an hour with dinner. I'm just trying to feed Henry but he's not exactly making it easy," she explained, gesturing to the baby food stain on her shirt. "For some reason he doesn't like to cooperate when I feed him. He's an angel for practically everyone else though."

"Want me to give it a shot?" Spencer asked with a laugh. "I mean we're not as close as him and Alex, but Henry's usually pretty good with me," she said as they made their way towards the little blonde who was still sitting in his highchair waiting rather patiently.

"I don't think anyone is as close as he and Alex are," Emily laughed, grabbing a spoon and handing it to Spencer. "But the kid's gotta eat so I'm willing to try anything."

"Hey Henry. Hi Buddy," Spencer smiled, scooping out a spoonful of carrots. "You hungry little man? Come on you need to eat. Open up," she said, smiling as the little blonde immediately opened his mouth, allowing Spencer to feed him.

"Unbelievable," Emily scoffed as Spencer simply laughed, continuing to feed a happy Henry. "I swear the kid is as stubborn as his Mama. Sometimes I think he just does it to drive me crazy. He totally gets that from Jen."

"He may have picked it up from Alex too," Spencer laughed as Emily nodded her agreement, the pair smiling as they watched Henry continue to eat. "Thanks for having me tonight," Spencer eventually broke the silence that had fallen over them. "It's not really Alex's thing and my parents would never…well they don't usually have time to watch movies with me or anything. It was cool of you to do this….to have me over and everything."

"Are you kidding? Thank _you!"_ Emily replied. "Alex and Jen never let me watch the movies I like. I'm always outvoted! I'm glad you suggested it," she added, a big smile on her face. "Plus I like spending time with you Spencer. You know you're always welcome here honey."

"Yeah I know," Spencer nodded. "But thank you anyways," she shrugged. "Tonight's going to be great."

Smiling, Emily ran her hand over Henry's head. "I couldn't agree more."

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JJ couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much. Dinner with Alex was filled with nothing but laughter as the Mother and Daughter talked about anything and everything, enjoying their time together on their own, something that rarely happened anymore.

The pair had eaten dinner at their favourite Italian restaurant and since they weren't really sure what they wanted to do afterwards, had decided to take a bit of a walk, eventually stumbling upon a miniature golf course, which Alex had immediately begged to go to. Unable to deny the teen JJ was quick to agree, her laughter continuing on for the next hour as Alex became very competitive, determined to beat the blonde.

"Do you think we could walk around for a while longer?" Alex asked when they had finished, the teen having just barely beat her Mother. "I'm not ready to go home yet."

"That sounds perfect," JJ smiled, wrapping an arm around the young brunette's shoulder. "It's such a nice night and I'm pretty sure if we go home now we'll get stuck watching at least part of that movie they're all watching."

"And we would not want that," Alex laughed as the duo turned into a park, deciding to walk through.

Wanting to talk to her Mother, but not really knowing how, Alex fell silent; debating in her head about what to say as she bit her lip nervously. "You alright there kid?" JJ eventually asked, noticing the shift in the brunette's demeanor. "What's wrong?"

"I…well I wanted to talk to you about something," Alex replied, picking at her nails nervously. "I'm just…I don't really know how," she admitted, her cheeks reddening.

"Okay," JJ nodded, leading the teen towards a nearby bench, sensing they were about to have a big conversation. "Well it usually helps to start at the beginning. You know you can talk to me about anything."

"I know," Alex nodded. "I just know that whatever I tell you, you're going to tell Mom about and I'm pretty sure she's going to get freaked out when you do and I'm not sure I'm really ready for that…because I'm kind of already freaking out myself."

Feeling pretty certain she knew where this conversation was going, JJ took a deep breath, bracing herself for a talk she had been waiting to have for nearly a year. "Look Lex I can't promise you that I won't tell Mom whatever it is you tell me," she said, knowing she wouldn't be able to keep anything from Emily. "But I can promise you that whatever it is, I will make sure your Mother understands and I will make sure she lets you come to her when you're ready," she continued, placing a hand on her daughter's knee. "I'm here to listen Lex. Whatever it is. Just talk to me Sweetheart."

Nodding, Alex took a deep breath as she attempted to settle her nerves. "Remember last year when things started getting kind of serious with me and Spencer?" She eventually began, JJ nodding that she understood. "Well Spencer and I had decided that we were going to take things slow because neither one of us were ready for…to take things…we weren't ready to have sex," she huffed, her cheeks flaring. "And well…we still haven't but we're…well I guess…things have…"

"You're ready now?" JJ guessed trying to help since the teen was obviously embarrassed.

"I know it probably doesn't seem that way given my sudden inability to speak but yes," Alex sighed. "I'm ready but I'm also…not."

"I'm not sure I follow," JJ furrowed her brow. "You're ready but you're not ready? Those are two different things Babe."

"I love Spencer," Alex began to explain. "I love her so much and I…well I want her," she shrugged. "Emotionally I'm ready. Our relationship is great and it's strong and I know that it will only become stronger but I'm…I'm also incredibly scared."

"Okay," JJ nodded starting to understand. "What about it scares you? Because honey if you're scared than maybe you need to reconsider just how ready you are."

"I'm scared because I don't know what I'm doing," Alex shook her head in frustration. "I trust Spencer and I know that we're both on the same page here…I mean we're both virgins but…well…health class didn't exactly prepare me for this."

"Oh," JJ replied, her eyes widening as understanding hit her. "Oh! You're not nervous about sleeping with Spencer. You're nervous about sleeping with a girl."

"I just…it's just that I don't know what I'm doing," Alex admitted looking rather mortified. "I'm worried that it's going to be horrible…that I'll be…oh God why did I ever bring this up," she hid her face in her hands.

"Lex," JJ pulled the teen towards her, placing a kiss on top of her head. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about Honey, and I'm glad you came to me. Don't be embarrassed," she repeated, pulling Alex's hands away from her face. "Alex no one truly knows what they're doing their first time," she said, wanting to reassure the teen as much as she could. "First times can be awkward and uncomfortable, but when you're with someone you love it's also incredibly special. I know right now you probably feel completely clueless and like a bit of a mess, but when you're with Spencer and when you're truly ready you'll be okay. You'll find that…well you'll find that you're not so nervous anymore; not in a bad way at least. You'll be able to connect to Spencer in a very intimate way and that…well that part shouldn't scare you."

Considering her Mother's words for a moment, Alex sat in silence, nodding absentmindedly as she bit her lip in the same way that Emily always did when she was thinking hard. "So does this mean you're okay with me having sex?" She eventually asked, a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

"No," JJ replied straight away, Alex laughing in surprise. "I would much rather you stay a little girl," she ran her hand over dark locks. "But I know you're growing up and I understand," she told her. "Your Mother and I may not like just how fast you're growing up, but we know how much you love Spencer and we love her too. You're not a little girl and that's just something we both have to accept."

"You think Mom won't freak out then?" Alex asked hopefully.

"Oh no she's going to be completely freaked," JJ laughed, pulling Alex tighter. "But don't worry; we'll handle it."

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"Spence? Spencer are you awake?" Alex quietly closed the door to the guestroom behind her, tiptoeing towards the bed where Spencer lay. "Spence?"

"Lex?" Spencer sat up, flicking on the bedside lamp. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Alex shrugged, keeping her voice low as she flicked the light back off and got into the bed beside her girlfriend. "I just missed you," she said, pulling the brunette to lay down with her.

"You're not supposed to be in here," Spencer chuckled softly. "We have to sleep in separate rooms remember?"

"I know I just way to lay with you a while," Alex replied placing a kiss against Spencer's lips. "I love you Spence."

"I love you too Lex," Spencer smiled against the other girl's hair. "You had a good time with your Mum tonight?"

"The best," Alex nodded, shifting, as she got comfortable, her arms still wrapped around her girlfriend, not quite ready to tell her girlfriend just what she had spent her evening talking about. "What about you? You had fun here?"

"I had a great time," Spencer replied. "I always have a good time with your family."

"They're your family too," Alex told her, feeling the other brunette smile against her neck. "They love you. All of them."

"You should probably go back to your room," Spencer whispered even as she tightened her hold on her girlfriend. "If your Moms catch us..."

"Just a little longer," Alex shook her head, her eyes already drifting shut as she relaxed in Spencer's arms. "I just want to lay with you."

"Okay," Spencer relented, closing her own eyes. "Just a little longer."


	3. Chapter 3

**So I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with this chapter, but I sort of just started writing and let myself keep going and this is what I ended up with. I really hope you all will enjoy it!**

 **Thanks so much to everyone who's reading! –J**

 **P.S The italics are a flashback to the previous night!**

 **Chapter 3**

 _"She said she was….but…she's only…well what did you say?" Emily stuttered as she dropped down onto the king sized bed, having just put Henry to sleep before retreating to their bedroom; Emily not expecting the conversation about their daughter being ready to have sex and feeling completely thrown off. "Did you tell her it was okay?"_

 _"Well I certainly didn't tell her it wasn't okay," JJ replied, leaning against the doorframe of their ensuite. "We wanted her to be open with us about this remember? I listened to her worries and I gave her some advice. I really don't know what else I was supposed to say."_

 _"She's only 16," was Emily's rather panicked reply. "She's still too young to be…she's so young."_

 _"Em I know this is hard okay? I get it," JJ made her way over to the bed, sitting down beside her wife and taking her hand in hers. "Trust me it took every ounce of self restraint that I have to keep my cool when Lex told me, but she's a teenager and she's in love with her girlfriend," she continued. "I know you're not crazy about the idea of her having sex, but wouldn't you rather her first time be with someone she's in a committed relationship with? With someone who she truly loves?"_

 _"Of course I do, but I would really prefer that happens like four years from now," Emily replied, a very distinct pout on her face. "You should have told her she should wait."_

 _"Em," JJ tried to reason. "What good would that have really done?" She sighed. "If I had demanded that she wait she would have just stopped coming to us about sex altogether, and we want an open relationship about this. There's also a very good chance that if I told her not to have sex she would have just jumped into bed with Spencer the first chance she got. At least we know right now that she's still just thinking about it; that she isn't just rushing head first into something that she isn't ready for," she continued, watching her wife's face, seeing the distress still etched there. "Em," she forced the brunette to look her way. "Talk to me."_

 _"I'm going to lose her," Emily eventually replied, her voice quiet and sad. "I'm already losing her. She's growing up so fast and she already doesn't come to me about these things and now she's going to grow up even faster and I'm going to lose…"_

 _"No you are not," JJ interrupted before her wife could continue. "You are not losing her Emily and you are not going to. Alex loves you so much and she will come to you about this when she's ready, but you need to give her time," she squeezed the brunette's hand. "You're her Mother Emily and she needs you. She will always need you."_

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Emily couldn't sleep. Though she had heard what her wife had told her the night before, the brunette couldn't help feeling like her daughter was still growing up too fast, and she wasn't ready. Alex had been living with Emily for 2 years and within that short period of time Emily was amazed with just how much her daughter had changed; how much she had grown both physically and emotionally. And while Emily was mostly proud of Alex, she couldn't help but wish that things would slow down. Emily felt like she had just gotten her daughter back, and she wasn't yet ready to lose that.

It was with these thoughts weighing on her mind that Emily lay in bed awake most of the night, tossing and turning as she debated what she was going to do when she saw Alex the next morning.

"Em?" JJ grumbled when she felt the bed shift early the next morning, reaching out for her wife who had already managed to get out from under the covers.

"Shhh," Emily leaned over the blonde, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Go back to sleep."

Reaching out for Emily's pillow, JJ pulled it towards her, grunting softly before her breathing once again evened out indicating that she had fallen back asleep. Laughing lightly Emily quietly made her way to the bathroom, spending a few minutes in there before heading for the hallway.

Unable to resist the urge to see Alex, Emily made her way to her daughter's room despite the early hour, carefully opening up the door and sticking her head in; mildly confused when she was met with the sight of an empty bed. "Lex?" She called even though the teen clearly wasn't there. "Oh Alex," she sighed, looking down the hall to the closed guestroom door.

Feeling both angry and fearful, Emily made her way down the hallway, displeased by the fact that her daughter had obviously openly broken one of their only rules, but also worried about what she would find when she entered the room. Opening up the door Emily registered that Alex and Spencer were cuddled close together, but were both were still dressed, before her anger got the better of her.

"Alex!" She shouted, both Spencer and Alex shooting up in bed, identical looks of sleepy horror on their face.

"Mom! I'm sorry! I fell asleep…."

"Emily nothing…we didn't…"

"Alex. Your room. Now," Emily's voice was calm and steady, and yet loud enough to bring JJ into the hallway checking to see what all the commotion was.

"Em?" JJ stuck her head out of the master bedroom just as Henry began crying from his room. "What's wrong? What happened?" She asked, understanding hitting her as Alex came out of the guestroom, a shamed look on her face.

"Mom nothing happened," Alex's voice was just loud enough for JJ to hear. "I fell asleep. I'm sorry."

"Jen you should get Henry," Emily ignored the teen as they both headed for Alex's bedroom. "Everything's…you should get Henry."

Not quite knowing what to do, JJ made her way to her son as Emily closed Alex's bedroom door, the teen looking fearful as she turned towards her Mother who was doing her best to control her shaking.

"Mom…"

"There are rules in this house Alexandra," Emily interrupted before Alex could say anything more. "We talked about this when you and Spencer started dating, and while your Mum and I have been pretty lax about most of those rules I think we've been pretty clear about you two sharing a bed when she stays here."

"I know Mom, I swear I know," Alex replied, sounding slightly panicked. "I did not go to Spencer's room with the intention of staying there I swear. I just went to talk to her because I couldn't sleep but I guess I was more tired than I thought because I fell asleep but I promise nothing else happened! We were just sleeping," she continued, practically begging her Mother to understand. "I know I wasn't supposed to be in there but we just fell asleep. We used to share a bed all the time remember?"

"That was before you were dating," Emily shook her head, unable to hear reason at the moment. "You may think you're ready for a more mature relationship Alex but you're 16. You're still a child whether you think so or not and…"

"So this is about what I told Mum," Alex interrupted this time, sighing as she finally understood why her Mother was freaking out so much. "Look Mom I know you aren't crazy about the idea but…"

"You're grounded," Emily cut her off just as JJ walked into the room carrying a sleepy looking Henry. "Two weeks. No phone, no laptop, no TV," she laid out the rules. "And you won't be seeing your friends…or Spencer," she turned towards JJ who had a rather disappointed look on her face as she looked into her wife's dark brown eyes.

"Emily…"

"Two weeks," Emily shook her head, leaving the room without another word just as Alex dropped down onto her bed, tears running down her face.

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"Emily what are you doing?" JJ barged into the master bedroom to find her wife sitting in the chair by the window looking outside. "You are completely overreacting. They were just sleeping. Why are you losing your mind?"

"Where's Henry?" Emily asked, ignoring the blonde's questions.

"I left him with Jessie for a bit," JJ shook her head in frustration. "Even though it was supposed to be her weekend off. Now will you talk to me?"

"Is Spencer still here?"

"No she was smart enough to get out of here," JJ practically scoffed. "She must have left when you were talking to Alex. Look Em I know you're still freaking out about the whole sex thing but you need to go back in there and talk to Lex. You can't do this every time something like this happens. You need to _talk_ to her. You need to…"

"I'm going for a run," Emily stood up, JJ only just noticing that the brunette had changed. "I need to…I can't…I'm going for a run," she shook her head, heading straight past her wife, who seemed too shocked to move at the moment.

Frustrated by Emily's inability to talk about her emotions, JJ resisted the urge to follow her wife out the door as her concern shifted from her wife to her daughter, knowing that Alex likely needed her right now. Taking a deep breath, JJ headed for the teen's room, knocking lightly before letting herself in.

"Mom?" Alex sat up in bed, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "Oh…" her shoulders seemed to slump as she realized it was JJ and not Emily at her door.

"Are you okay?" JJ asked even though she could clearly see that the teen was not.

Shrugging, Alex opened her mouth to reply, the words getting lost as a quiet sob escaped instead as her tears once again began to fall.

"Oh Honey," JJ sighed, quickly making her way to the bed. "Come here," she said as she wrapped her arms around the young brunette. "It's okay Baby. It's going to be okay," she kissed the side of her daughter's head. "Your Mom just needs some time to calm down. She just needs to blow off some steam and get her head on straight and then she'll see reason. She overreacted. It's what she does."

"Nothing even happened," Alex said between sobs. "I swear Mum. I just went in there to talk to Spencer and I fell asleep. That's all," she cried. "I know what I told you but I never would have just come home and jumped into bed with Spencer; especially without talking to Mom first."

"I know that Baby. I know," JJ nodded, running her hand over the teen's head, doing her best to offer as much comfort as possible. "I'm sorry honey. This all got a little out of control. I shouldn't have said anything to your Mom. I should have let you talk to her."

"I knew you would tell Mom when I told you," Alex shook her head, allowing JJ to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "I thought that if you talked to Mom first that it would make it easier for me because she always…well she gets really freaked out about this stuff," she explained, her voice shaking despite the fact that the tears had mostly stopped. "I thought I would be able to talk to her but I messed everything up," she sighed in frustration. "It was so stupid."

"It was an accident," JJ interrupted firmly, her thumb still brushing the teen's cheek. "It was just an accident. It'll be okay Honey. We'll fix this. It'll be okay."

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Emily ran. She ran and ran with no thought of where she was going as the familiar burn filled her lungs and until her legs could barely hold her up. Though she hadn't been paying much attention to where she was going, Emily wasn't entirely surprised by where she had ended up, jogging up the front walk and eventually knocking on the front door rather loudly.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'…what the…this better be good," Morgan answered the door in just a pair of sweatpants having clearly just been woken up. "It's Saturday Princess; our first Saturday off in ages. What are you doing…"

"Alex is ready to have sex," Emily blurted out, stunning Morgan into silence. "She told Jen that she's ready and then I woke up and found her in bed with Spencer. Nothing happened. They were just sleeping but I freaked out and…I freaked out."

"I'll make coffee," Morgan opened the door wider, stepping aside to let Emily inside, following her back towards the kitchen. "So much for a relaxing weekend off huh?" He said as Emily took a seat at the counter and he turned on the coffee maker.

"I think I would take an unsub to this any day," Emily replied covering her face with her hands. "God I'm not ready for this. She's too young for this. _I'm_ too young for this," she looked up to find Morgan watching her with a rather amused look on his face. "Really? Are you laughing at me?"

"What? No…I'm not…I'm not laughing at you," Morgan replied, struggling to put on a straight face, only receiving a glare from Emily. "Really I'm not. It's just…well you're kind of wigging out Princess. I mean I don't think I've ever seen you like this."

"Well what do you…of course I'm…seriously Derek," Emily once again glared at her friend. "Of course I'm freaking out! My 16 year old is thinking about having sex. She's in this crazy serious relationship but she's still a child and but she's trying to grow up so fast and…why are you still looking at me like that?"

"I'm sorry," Morgan quickly held up his hands, having been unable to hold back a laugh at Emily's sudden hysterics. "Seriously I'm sorry. I'm trying to take this seriously it's just…come on Em," he sighed. "Look I know I don't have kids and really I have no clue how to parent a kid but I do know Alex," he told her. "I know she's only 16 but Alex is the most mature kid I ever met Em. She's so smart and she's just not your typical teen. And I know you're freaking out but think about this rationally for a minute. She hasn't done anything yet. She went to JJ to talk about it rather than making any sort of rash decision and when you found her this morning she was just sleeping next to her girlfriend; she didn't have sex, which means she's still taking the time to think about her decision rather than rushing into it," he finished, watching as Emily clearly let it all sink in. "I know you know all this already," he said after waiting some time. "So what's this really about?"

"I…she's…" Emily stuttered, looking up at Morgan with wide eyes that looked glassy with tears. "I don't want her to make the mistakes that I made," she eventually replied, thinking of the boys she had slept with when she was too young and fooled by the idea of love.

"She's not going to," Morgan was quick to assure her, placing a hand on top of the brunette's. "You wanna know how I know that?" He asked, as Emily simply shrugged, still looking defeated. "Because Alex has something you never hand," he eventually told her. "She's got you."

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Alex had messed up. She had messed up and now her Mother was furious with her, and had apparently run away. JJ had done everything she could to reassure Alex that everything would be okay; that Emily would come home when her head was clear and she would talk to her, but Alex just couldn't be consoled. The teen had allowed JJ to drag her downstairs to the family room, but she had yet to move from the couch where she was currently wrapped up under a blanket with the TV still turned off as per her grounding rules.

The teen was feeling so gloomy that she didn't even hear the front door opening, Emily running inside. "Alex!" The older brunette immediately called out, bringing JJ and Henry out of the kitchen while Alex sat up from her spot on the couch, looking startled. "Alex we need to talk…I…can we talk?" She kneeled in front of her daughter, an almost frantic look on her face. "Please can we talk?"

"Oh…yeah," Alex nodded, her eyes wide and slightly confused as she looked from one of her Mothers to the other. "Yeah…sure."

"I'm going to take Henry upstairs to play for a while," JJ announced, knowing her wife would do the right thing; wanting the two brunettes to make up.

As the sound of JJ's footsteps on the stairs filled the room Alex and Emily sat staring at each other, neither seeming to know where to start.

"Mom I'm really sorry," Alex was the one to finally break the silence, shaking her head as she reached out for her Mother's hands. "I broke the rules last night and I shouldn't have, but it really was just an accident. I swear nothing happened. I promise you I wouldn't just jump into something like that and…"

"I know nothing happened sweetheart," Emily interrupted, squeezing Alex's hands in reassurance. "I know and I'm…I'm sorry for this morning," she said, getting up so she could sit next to the teen on the couch. "When your Mum told me about your talk last night I was a little overwhelmed," she began to explain. "I love Spencer, really I do, and I'm so happy that the two of you are so happy together, but you're my daughter and it's…well it's hard for me to watch you grow up," she said with a small laugh. "I spent most of last night, struggling with that fact, so when I found you and Spencer this morning I just sort of…well I guess I snapped a little didn't I?"

"Yeah...sort of," Alex nodded, a small smile on her face. "I get it though," she shrugged. "You have to know though I was going to come to you. I know I talked to Mum first but I was still going to talk to you before I…well I wasn't going to just…I wanted to talk to you first."

"I know Honey," Emily said, tucking the teen's dark locks behind her ear. "I believe you."

"This isn't a decision I'm taking lightly Mom," Alex then told her. "I'm not letting my hormones dictate my decisions. I have thought about this a lot…possibly too much," she admitted with a blush. "And I'm seriously not saying that I'm ready to sleep with Spencer tomorrow but…well…it's going to happen Mom. I love her so much and I…I want to be with her, but I promise you I won't do anything I'm going to regret. I promise I will be careful."

"Okay," Emily nodded, a real smile on her face as she pulled the younger brunette into a hug. "You know I'm always going to worry about you Lex. Your Mum and I will always worry about you," she then said. "I will always hate the fact that you're growing up, but I will try to be more understanding. I promise."

"Just promise that no matter what happens we'll always be able to talk to each other," Alex replied. "My relationship with you and Mum is so important to me and I want us to always be able to talk. I need to know that I can always come to you. No matter what."

"Of course you can Sweetheart," Emily was quick to assure her, once again pulling her in for a hug, holding on tightly. "Of course you can. I promise."


	4. Chapter 4

**I hope that you all will enjoy this chapter! And I hope everyone is happy with how I've been updating between my two stories. I'm really doing my best to keep up with both!**

 **Thanks so much for reading! -J**

 **Chapter 4**

The shrill ring of JJ's cell phone woke both JJ and Emily early Monday morning; Emily opening her eyes to find that the sun wasn't even shining through the windows yet. Groaning, Emily rolled onto her side, listening as JJ talked on her phone, the brunette guessing that it must Hotch considering the early hour.

"Okay…yes…I can call them….we'll see you then," JJ ended the call, turning towards Emily, her cell phone the only thing lighting the room. "We need to go in," she yawned, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Hotch wants to be in the air by 8."

"Where?" Emily forced herself to sit up, resisting the urge to go back to sleep.

"Vegas," JJ stretched her arms out over her head. "They've had some pretty gruesome murders from what Hotch told me," she explained, still sounding half asleep. "You can take the first shower. I need to call the rest of the guys."

"Right…okay," Emily nodded robotically, neither woman bothering to turn on the light as Emily headed towards the ensuite while JJ began dialing Reid.

45 minutes later, after kissing a still sleeping Henry on the head, Emily made her way to Alex's room, quietly making her way towards the teen's bed. "Lex, honey?" Emily ran her fingers through the teen's hair before leaning down and kissing her forehead. "Baby, me and Mum have to go."

"Mom?" Alex squinted her eyes open, her voice sleepy and rough. "You got a case?"

"Hotch called," Emily sat on the edge of her daughter's bed. "We're heading out to Vegas at 8. We'll probably be gone a few days."

"What time is it now?" Alex asked, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"It's only 6 so you can go back to sleep," Emily replied. "But try and make sure you help out around the house while we're gone okay. Jessie has her hands full enough with Henry so make yourself useful alright?"

"M'kay," Alex nodded sleepily. "Where's Mum?"

"Right here," JJ was the one to reply, making her way over to the teen, leaning in to give her a kiss. "We're gonna miss you kiddo. You take care of your brother okay? Be good for Jessie."

"I always do," Alex yawned. "I'll miss you guys too. Will you call tonight?"

"As soon as we can," Emily nodded, running a hand over the teen's head. "And I know I ungrounded you but the rules still apply okay?" She felt the need to add, slightly anxious about leaving her daughter under someone else's supervision for the first time in a long time. "Just…don't…well…"

"Mom," Alex interrupted, her eyes fully open as she reached out and placed a hand over her Mother's. "Just…trust me okay? Nothing's going to happen right now."

"Okay," Emily replied, releasing a sigh, doing her best to trust that the teen would keep her word. "We'll talk to you soon Baby. Love you."

"I love you too," Alex smiled, sitting up to give her Mother a hug. "Love you Mum," she then wrapped her arms around her blonde Mother.

"I love you too Sweetheart," JJ replied, kissing the side of the teen's head. "We'll see you soon."

"Be safe," Alex called when the women were at the door, lying back down in hope of getting a bit more sleep before getting up for the day.

"Well you ready to go Agent Prentiss?" JJ turned to Emily in the hallway.

"As ready as I'm going to be Agent Jareau," Emily took JJ by the hand. "Let's go."

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Since Hotch wanted the team flying out rather early it was decided that they would brief on the jet. Having managed to get out of the house on time, JJ and Emily had stopped for coffee before heading to meet the team; boarding the jet to find that Morgan was the only one to have already arrived.

"You're the first one here?" Emily was surprised, grabbing JJ's bag from her and putting it up along with hers. "You feeling alright there buddy?"

"Actually I just wanted to get here to see if you actually showed up," Morgan countered while Emily and JJ took seats across from him. "I mean I figured you'd be attaching yourself to Lex's side. You know prevent her from spending any time with her girlfriend."

"Ha Ha," Emily rolled her eyes. "You're hilarious really," she said sarcastically. "So I may have lost my cool a bit Saturday."

"A bit?" Morgan laughed. "I thought I was going to have to sedate you."

"Oh please," Emily scoffed. "I was not that bad! I just…okay I freaked out," she admitted with a sigh. "But Alex and I talked and I feel better now. I mean I'm okay with everything. I'm okay with being away from her. Nothing's different from before," she said, receiving a skeptical look from the other Agent.

"She's in denial," JJ finally said with a laugh. "I'm actually surprised she didn't try to stay home," she added, Morgan laughing as he held up a hand for a high five, which the blonde was quick to give him.

"Um excuse me," Emily turned to her wife with a glare. "You're supposed to be on my side here! I'm sorry I'm not being as cool about this as you are," she pouted. "You know I really don't get why you're so fine with all of this anyways," she folded her arms across her chest.

"I'm not. Not really anyways," JJ shrugged. "I'm just trying to be understanding. She's a teenager; forbidding her from doing something is only going to make her want to do it more. At least if we're understanding about it and make sure she's comfortable talking to us we know she'll take her time in actually making a decision."

"Yeah if you say so," Emily huffed just as Reid, Rossi and Hotch boarded the jet.

"What do you say?" Reid asked as he and Rossi moved to take their seats while Hotch went to talk to the pilot.

"Nothing," Emily was quick to reply, not wanting to get into everything again. "So Vegas huh? You going to visit your Mom while we're there?" She changed the subject.

"I'm hoping that I can stop in before we have to head back," Reid nodded. "But that will depend on the case."

"What is the case anyways?" Morgan asked, turning to Rossi. "Did he tell you anything?"

"All he said was it isn't pretty," Rossi shrugged. "Considering it came straight to Hotch in the middle of the night I imagine it can't be anything good."

"Most of our cases aren't," Emily was the one to point out just as Hotch returned.

"We'll be in the air in 10," he said as he took a seat next to Rossi. "You all can take a look at these until then," he handed out the case files. "I want to hit the ground running on this one. I know all of our cases are bad but…this one's worse."

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"You're actually serious?" Olivia laughed, lying out on a towel next to the pool with Alex later that afternoon. "Your Mom walked in on you?"

"We were just sleeping Liv," Alex rolled her eyes. "I told you, nothing happened. But my Mom lost it and then grounded me, went for a run and came back and ungrounded me," she explained. "I'm actually kind of surprised I managed to get out of it without punishment considering I broke a pretty big rule. I think my Mom just felt bad that she overreacted."

"You know I don't get what the big deal is," Olivia turned towards the brunette. "I mean what's your Mom so worried about? It's not like you're going to get pregnant or anything."

"I think that's beside the point," Alex shook her head, understanding her Mother's worries. "She just worries about me. She doesn't want me to do something I'm going to regret. She doesn't want me to make the choices that she made when she was our age," she explained. "It's complicated I guess."

"Well at least your Moms cares," Olivia shrugged. "If I brought a guy home and he stayed the night in my room I doubt my Mom would even notice."

"Things are still bad?" Alex rolled her head towards her friend, seeing how much she was bothered by the look on her face.

"Things are the same way they've been for forever," Olivia replied, sounding sad despite the fact that she was trying to put on a brave face. "Or at least since my dad left. She's dating some new guy again. I'm pretty sure this one is even worse than the last. I hate it when he's over."

"Why don't you stay here for a few days?" Alex suggested. "I can text my Mom and make sure it's okay; Jessie won't mind," she said, knowing that sometimes the blonde just needed a break from her own house, where she felt ignored most of the time. "Come on. It'll be fun. I could use the company while my Moms are away, and Spencer is the busiest person ever."

"Well…yeah sure," Olivia agreed with a grin, appreciating that Alex was always there for her. "As long as it's okay with your Moms."

"It will be," Alex assured her. "What time is it anyways? Spencer was supposed to stop by when she finished at the old age home."

"It's 4," Spencer, who came through the back door, was the one to reply, a big smile on her face. "And I got out early," she said, leaning over Alex and giving her a kiss in greeting. "Hey Liv."

"What no kiss for me?" Olivia joked, laughing as Spencer leant over her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Have you two been doing this all day?" Spencer asked, sitting down on the edge of Alex's towel and pulling her tank top off over her head, revealing the bikini she was wearing underneath.

"Pretty much," Olivia shrugged. "Every hour or so we jump in the pool for a while."

"Are you going in?" Alex asked, her eyes glued to her girlfriend's body, unable to look away, a fact, which Olivia didn't miss, a smirk on the blonde's face.

"I think I will," Spencer stood up, pulling off her shorts. "You guys wanna join me?"

"I bet Alex does," Olivia snorted, earning a glare from the brunette, as they both stood up to join Spencer. "Race you there?" She asked innocently.

"Oh yeah," Alex laughed. "You better run."

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"Do you want me to order dinner?" JJ asked when she and Emily got to their hotel room later that night, the couple exhausted after a day with very little downtime.

"Ugh, I don't think I can eat," Emily groaned, flopping face-down on the bed in the middle of the room. "My stomach is in knots. Unsubs who eat their victims…I can't even…every time I think about it I want to vomit."

"Yeah I'm pretty grateful we didn't catch this case while I was pregnant," JJ sat on the edge of the bed, running a hand over her wife's head. "We haven't eaten anything all day. As sick as this whole thing may make us feel I'm pretty sure we should eat. You want a grilled cheese?"

"Yes please," Emily's voice was muffled against the bed, eventually turning and watching as JJ called room service and ordered them both a grilled cheese. "They'll be about 15 minutes," she told Emily as she hung up. "Did you get a text from Alex? I meant to ask you when you got back with Morgan but you both looked so bad I forgot."

"I don't think so," Emily shook her head, pulling out her phone, not finding any messages there. "I've got nothing. What did she want?"

"She wanted to know if it was okay for Olivia to stay at the house for a few days," JJ explained. "She said it was okay with Jessie so I said yes after I double checked with Jessie. I'm guessing Liv is having a hard time at home again."

"Poor kid," Emily sighed, swiping through her phone in order to call Alex. "Liv is such a good kid and she has such a good spirit. I hate that she's got all this stuff at home bringing her down," she continued, bringing the phone up to her ear, listening as it began to ring before putting it on speaker.

"Hey Mom," Alex's voice greeted from the other end of the phone, the teen sounding like she had been laughing. "You back at the hotel?"

"We sure are. Mum's here too," Emily replied, sitting up as JJ got close so they were both near the phone.

"Hi sweetheart," JJ called.

"Hey Mum," Alex greeted with a laugh. "How's the case going?"

"Disgusting," Emily huffed. "Don't even ask. You seriously don't want to know," she continued. "So Olivia's going to stay for a few days huh?"

"Yeah, she just wanted to hang out for a little while," Alex replied, obviously not wanting to get into it since her friend was close by. "Jessie's totally cool with it and we won't make any trouble for her. We'll still help out and what not, don't worry."

"We're not worried," JJ assured her. "What did you two get up to today?"

"Mostly just laid by the pool," Alex replied. "Spencer came over after her volunteering and we all swam. The three of us made dinner. Just pasta but I figured I would give Jessie a break since she was pretty busy chasing Henry around the house. Spencer went home an hour ago."

"You're a good kid Alexandra Emily Prentiss-Jareau-Campbell," Emily grinned, pleased that her daughter was so well behaved for a teenager; knowing that despite the couple periods of difficulty they had with Alex, she was generally a good kid.

"I try," Alex laughed. "You guys think you're going to be gone long?"

"It's pretty likely," JJ was the one to reply. "We didn't get very far today."

"But you know how it goes. We could get a break in the case at any point," Emily added. "I'm really hoping for that," she sighed just as there was a knock at the door.

"You guys got company?" Alex asked, having heard the knock.

"No it's just dinner," Emily replied as JJ went to answer the door and get their dinner. "Grilled cheese sandwiches and cokes," she told the teen.

"Comfort food," Alex laughed. "The case _must_ be bad. I guess I'll leave you guys to enjoy your dinner then. You'll call tomorrow?" She asked.

"Unless by some miracle we make it home instead," Emily replied. "Be good kid."

"We love you," JJ called as she rejoined Emily on the bed, dinner in hand.

"I love you guys too. Be safe," Alex replied. "Talk to you tomorrow."

"Goodnight sweetheart," Emily and JJ both replied before Alex hung up the phone.

"Wow we just sounded like an old married couple," JJ laughed as Emily dropped the phone on the bed, leaning back against the headboard as she took her sandwich. "Not even a full year in and we're already talking in sync while we eat sandwiches in bed at 9pm."

"Yeah well we have a 16 year old so we're an old married couple no matter how long we've been married for," Emily replied dryly. "Hell half the time I forget we haven't been married for 16 years."

"I know what you mean," JJ laughed, taking a bite of her grilled cheese. "I definitely never imagined raising a teenager at this point in my life," she admitted. "Although now I can't imagine life being differently. A teenager and a one year old."

"And hopefully soon we'll have another one," Emily added with a small smile, turning to her wife, who gave her a big grin. "We said we would start talking about it. I think we should start talking about it."

"I think that sounds wonderful," JJ leaned forward, giving the brunette a quick kiss. "But let's not do it while we've got this disgusting case hanging over our heads okay?"

"Okay," Emily chuckled. "When we get home then?"

"When we get home," JJ nodded. "I can't wait."


	5. Chapter 5

**It has been difficult to update as I've been sick and basically doing nothing but struggling through work and sleeping, leaving very little time for writing. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter anyways! Thanks so much for your patience!**

 **-J**

 **Chapter 5**

"I say the next time we get a case where our unsub is eating their victims we pass it off to another team," Emily huffed as she took her seat on the jet, her shoulders slumping in exhaustion. "Personally I've had enough cannibalism to last me a lifetime. I think we deserve to pass on the next few."

"It doesn't actually work that way," Reid replied, sitting across from Emily and JJ while Morgan sat down beside him. "Cases are assigned to the team that's available. We aren't actually allowed to pick or choose, although Strauss can technically request a team for a specific case if she sees fit."

"Reid," Morgan turned to the younger Agent, looking slightly exasperated. "She wasn't serious."

"Oh I'm serious," Emily countered, running her hand over her face. "I've never been so nauseous in my life, and like consistently nauseous; like since we landed here. Even when I was pregnant with Alex I never felt that sick for so long," she shook her head with a sigh. "I just don't understand it. I mean how could you want to…ugh."

"Actually cannibalism…" Reid began.

"Reid," JJ quickly interrupted, shaking her head, knowing where the genius was going and knowing Emily was likely to get even grumpier if he did. "So how was your Mom? You never told us."

"She's doing okay," Reid replied, looking slightly uncomfortable as he gave the blonde a small smile. "They've changed her meds and she's been reacting well to them so I guess that's good."

"That's great Reid," Morgan smiled. "Do we know if we have to go into the office when we get back?" He changed the subject, turning to Hotch who was sitting behind him with Rossi.

"I think you all earned the day off," Hotch replied with a small smile. "But if you're late tomorrow you'll be doing everyone's paperwork," he warned, willing to give his team the rest of their Thursday off, but knowing Strauss would be furious if they didn't get their files completed the next day.

"You got it Boss man," Morgan laughed, turning his attention back to JJ and Emily, both of whom were looking ready to fall asleep. "You two look like you're going to have an exciting day," he joked. "Any chance you want some company in that pool of yours this afternoon? Because you know Uncle Morgan hasn't seen Henry in a while, and I'm willing to bet I know a certain blonde who would also enjoy seeing her Godson."

"Yes you can come over and use our pool Morgan," Emily rolled her eyes. "And you can call Garcia and tell her to come too. Would anyone else like to join us?" She asked, knowing she would break out from her exhaustion as soon as she got home.

"I've got plans with Haley and Jack," Hotch replied.

"I'm heading home," Rossi also denied. "I see far too much of you people."

"Reid?" JJ turned to Reid who had already pulled out a book. "You wanna come over? I'm sure Henry and Alex would love to see you."

"Sure," Reid smiled, nodding. "I'll come."

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"Do you ever feel incredibly lazy when you think about everything Spencer does all summer?" Olivia asked as she and Alex lay on floaties in the pool, just after noon. "I mean we've spent most of the week out here by the pool while she's volunteering her services at practically every organization in the city."

"Technically we've also spent some of our time watching Henry," Alex shrugged, lifting her sunglasses to look at her blonde friend. "Plus I've been playing soccer like all summer and you've been babysitting a bit. We do things," she reasoned. "It's August. We have to go back to school soon. I think we deserve some time to rest and relax. Spencer just doesn't know how to do that."

"You're telling me," Olivia laughed. "I wonder if she was that way when she was little too. I can totally picture 3 year old Spencer surrounded by books, trying to learn to read before she even made it to school."

"Well considering her parents are the way they are that wouldn't surprise me," Alex agreed with a laugh of her own. "She's just concerned about getting into a good college."

"She's a genius. She has nothing to worry about," Olivia scoffed. "Neither one of you do. I can totally picture the two of you together at Yale or Harvard or something; all snuggled up together studying philosophy, or medicine or something else incredibly boring."

"Gee thanks," Alex laughed, not sure if she should be offended or not. "Although I'm definitely not studying medicine…or philosophy for that matter," she rolled her eyes. "I was thinking more along the lines or English or journalism or something," she explained. "And Spencer and I haven't even discussed college. Who even knows if we'll end up at the same place."

"You will," Olivia replied, sounding very sure of herself, not the least bit doubtful. "Regardless of whether or not you two are still dating then or not I feel like you guys will stick together," she continued. "You're best friends. I mean we all are, but you and Spencer are different. I can't imagine you two being very far from each other."

"True," Alex smiled, knowing that Olivia was right; she and Spencer were unlikely to choose to be too far away from each other if they could help it. "So you wanna do anything else today or…"

"Al! Al!" Henry's shouts interrupted the teen, who immediately looked towards the back patio, surprised to find her Mum coming out carrying Henry rather than Jessie.

"Mum!" Alex's smile was big, jumping off her floating chair and into the pool so she could climb out and greet the blonde. "I didn't think you guys would be back until later."

"Yes well Hotch gave us the day off," JJ smiled as Alex gave her a kiss on the cheek before grabbing a towel. "Morgan, Reid and Garcia are coming over in a little bit to spend the afternoon. We thought we'd barbeque for lunch and hang out by the pool. We won't be cramping your style will we?"

"Not at all!" Alex shook her head, looking overly happy. "That actually sounds great."

"Good," JJ beamed as Henry squirmed to be let down, immediately taking his sister's hand. "Hello Olivia," she then greeted the blonde who had just come over, grabbing a towel of her own.

"Hey JJ," Olivia smiled. "Welcome back! I can get out of the way here if you guys have plans this afternoon. I mean it's probably time I go…"

"You can stay as long as you like Liv," JJ interrupted, placing a hand over each of the teen's cheeks before pulling her forward, kissing her on the forehead. "You know you're always welcome Honey. As long as you need to," she smiled, not missing the grateful look of sadness on Olivia's face. "Now come on. Let's go in and see Emily before everyone else gets here. She missed you two."

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"Hey Pretty Boy get in the pool!" Morgan called out from the middle of the pool where he was floating on a noodle, chatting with Garcia. "Come on!"

"I'm okay here," Reid replied, sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water.

"Leave him alone Morgan," Emily rolled her eyes, pushing Henry around in his favourite floating boat. "He doesn't have to come in if he doesn't want to."

"Okay Mom," Morgan teased, not noticing JJ swimming up behind him, the blonde immediately jumping on his shoulders, catching him by surprise as he was dunked under the water. "Oh you're asking for it Blondie," he quickly grabbed JJ around the waist when he was back above the water, pulling them both under the water.

Watching the pair, Emily was laughing as Alex and Olivia swam up beside her, both with smiles on their faces.

"Looks like the kids are fighting again," Alex laughed, latching on to her Mother's back, wrapping her arms around the older brunette's neck. "Can't you all just get along?"

"Not likely," Emily smiled, allowing Olivia to take over pushing Henry around while Alex wrapped her legs around her middle like a monkey. "We've had a rough couple days; I think we deserve a day to relax and act like children. Plus you know Morgan, he's just a big kid."

"Very true," Alex replied, tightening her hold as she kissed the back of Emily's head. "I'm glad you're home; and that you got the day off. I actually can't believe you got the day off."

"Neither can I really," Emily laughed placing her hands over Alex's. "But I think Hotch knew we needed a day to shake this case. Sometimes you can't just leave it behind on the jet."

"Are you ever going to tell me about it?" Alex asked, having asked several times on the phone, but never getting an answer.

"Trust me Babe, you do not want to know," Emily shook her head.

"What doesn't she want to know?" Garcia asked as she swam over in attempt to give Morgan and JJ more space; both of who were still play fighting.

"What the case was," Emily replied.

"Oh Gosh I wish I didn't even know what it was," Garcia looked horrified. "There are some things you just shouldn't know about Pumpkin," she told Alex.

"Was it really that bad?" Olivia asked. "Like the worst case you've ever had?"

"No there's definitely been worse," Emily shook her head, trying not to think about all the terrible things she had seen people do to each other. "But this one was just…" she involuntarily shivered. "It was disturbing. You don't need to know any more than that."

"I know I won't be able to sleep for weeks," Garcia nodded, tickling Henry's kicking feet. "You're lucky you don't know Sweetheart. Keep it that way."

"Hey!" JJ shouted interrupting the conversation. "I thought we agreed no work talk today?" She reminded them. "Now someone go get a beachball. We're playing volleyball."

"I'm on Mum's team," Alex immediately yelled, jumping off Emily's back and swimming towards her blonde Mother.

"Wow. Abandoned just like that," Emily held a hand over her heart, pretending to be hurt.

"Sorry Mom, but I know where the athletics are in this family. "We get Olivia you can have Morgan and Garcia."

"You're on kid," Morgan replied, picking up a laughing Henry and bringing him over to Reid who was happy to continue sitting on the side and watching. "Prepare to get your butts kicked."

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Later that night, after a full day in the backyard with most of the team, Emily and JJ finally retreated to their bedroom after putting Henry to sleep and saying their goodnights to Alex and Olivia. Pulling on their pajamas, feeling both exhausted and happy, the couple crawled into bed, both sitting up against the headboard.

"I so needed a day like today," Emily sighed. "I don't feel nauseous anymore. I feel much better."

"You look it too," JJ smiled. "I'm really glad Hotch gave us the day to shake the case off. I think it bothered all of us more than usual."

"Which is completely understandable," Emily chuckled. "I talked to Liv after dinner by the way. Her Mom's dating some guy she doesn't like," she explained. "Liv has been checking in with her and she's gone home a couple times. She says she'll go home anytime we want her to but…"

"We don't want her to," JJ finished for her with a smile. "She can stay as long as she needs to. At least we know she's staying out of trouble while she's here."

"My thoughts exactly," Emily nodded, smoothing out the blankets over her legs as she considered how to bring up what she actually wanted to talk about. "So….the case is over and we're home…"

"We are…" JJ waited for her to finish, trying hard not to laugh.

"Well we were supposed to talk," Emily reminded her, sounding slightly nervous and a little concerned considering JJ had been so excited about talking when the case was over. "You know…about babies."

"I remember," JJ giggled, earning a glare from the brunette. "I just like watching you struggle. You seem nervous," she reached out and took her wife's hand. "This is a good thing Em. And we're just talking. Why are you nervous?"

"I don't know," Emily shook her head, her cheeks turning a little red. "It's just that…I don't know…this is so…different," she sighed, leaning her head back so she was looking up at the ceiling.

"Different?" JJ sounded slightly confused. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"Well Henry wasn't exactly planned," Emily replied, turning her head to look at her wife. "It wasn't like we sat down and decided we wanted to have kids…more than just Alex I mean," she explained. "Henry just sort of happened, and I'm grateful…I'm so grateful….but he wasn't a conversation. This just feels so different. It's exciting but it's also nerve-wracking because there's just so many things to think about," she continued, missing the amused smile on JJ's face. "I mean who's going to carry the baby and who's baby are we going to have? How will we work it out with work and when are we going to do this and how and…"

"Emily," JJ interrupted, her voice bubbling with laughter. "Em. Breathe okay?" She squeezed the hand in hers. "I know it's a lot. And I know there are a lot of things to consider but that's why we're talking right? We're just talking right now."

"Right," Emily nodded, looking a little robotic. "Right…talking. So where do we…start?"

"Well where would you like to start?" JJ asked, realizing that she needed to let the brunette dictate this one since she was obviously anxious, not wanting her to close off. "What's the biggest question in your mind?"

"Which one of us will carry the baby?" Emily was quick to ask, not giving herself enough time to get nervous. "I mean who is carrying the baby in your mind?"

"I'm actually open to either one of us doing it," JJ shrugged. "I mean I would love to see you pregnant," she grinned, placing a hand over the brunette's flat stomach. "I bet you'd be so sexy," she made Emily blush. "But I would also love to have your baby."

Surprised, Emily's eyes widened. "My baby?" She repeated. "You would carry _my_ baby?"

"That's what I hoped," JJ nodded. "I just thought that if I had the baby then I would use your eggs and if you carried the baby then we would use my eggs. I know it doesn't matter to either one of us, but biologically the baby will only be one of ours. I just thought that the other one of us would at least get to experience the pregnancy and connect with the baby that way."

"That makes sense," Emily replied, smiling as she pushed the blonde's hair back behind her ear. "You've given this a lot of thought huh?"

"I've been thinking about it for a while," JJ shrugged, a big smile on her face. "I love our family and I'm happy whether we have another baby or not, but I really want to do this. I want another baby. I want another you or me running around with Henry. I want to see Alex with another little brother or sister. I just…I want it all," she shrugged again.

"I want that too," Emily grinned, leaning in for a kiss, which ended up lasting a lot longer than she originally intended. "I'm not…I don't want us to make any decisions yet," she said when they finally pulled apart. "I want all that with you and I'm so excited about it but I want… _we_ need to talk to Alex first. She…we need…I want to…"

"Em, I get it," JJ interrupted, leaning forward for a quick peck in order to reassure the brunette. "I wouldn't want us to make a decision without talking to Alex either," she said, understanding the brunette's worries. "But we are going to do this? We're going to try to have another baby?"

"We're going to try," Emily nodded, a big smile on her face, laughing as JJ threw her arms around her neck, hugging her tightly. "I love you Jennifer Jareau-Prentiss."

"I love you too," JJ replied happily, pulling her wife in for another kiss. "And I love our family."


	6. Chapter 6

**Vote Please: Who would you rather see carry the baby? Emily or JJ?**

 **Sorry for the long wait on this chapter! It has been a busy couple weeks!**

 **Hope you enjoy! -J**

 **Chapter 6**

"Lex honey, can we talk to you alone for a few minutes?" Emily poked her head into Alex's bedroom Sunday evening where the teen was watching a movie with Olivia, who was still staying with them. "It shouldn't take too long. Mum and I just want your opinion on something."

"Oh sure," Alex looked slightly confused as she got up from her bed. "Be back in a bit Liv," she said, following her Mother into the hall and towards the master bedroom where JJ was waiting for them, having just put Henry to bed.

Though the team had hoped for a weekend off, they had ultimately been brought in on a local case, returning home late Sunday afternoon after helping make an arrest. Alex had spent much of the day with Spencer and Olivia, Spencer excusing herself early as she was starting her day early the next morning.

"Is this about Liv still being here? Because she said she would go home," Alex said as she took a seat at the end of the bed. "It's just that you said it was okay if she stayed and she just seems so happy here and…"

"It's not about Olivia," Emily interrupted, taking a seat next to JJ, smiling as the blonde immediately took her hand. "Actually Mum and I wanted to talk to you about something rather exciting…well we think it's exciting. And we're hoping that you'll think it's exciting too and…"

"Em," JJ squeezed Emily's hand, pulling her out of her rambling.

"Are you okay?" Alex raised her eyebrow.

"Hm? Oh of course," Emily bit her lip. "I'm just a little…" She wanted to say nervous but thought better of it, not wanting JJ to think that she was doubting their choice. "I'm fine. We've just been talking about making some changes to our family."

"Changes?" Alex once again looked slightly confused.

"Additions," JJ corrected her wife, watching as Alex's eyes widened in surprise.

"I'm assuming you aren't referring to a dog," Alex began to smile. "Because Sergio really wouldn't like that," she joked, a big grin now lighting up her face.

"We were thinking more along the lines of another baby," JJ was the one to reply, her smile matching her daughter's.

"That's awesome!" Alex exclaimed, immediately throwing her arms around both women's necks, giving them a tight hug. "Although I'm not sure why you were so nervous to tell me that Mom," she said when she pulled away. "Obviously I think that's great news. And it's not like I didn't expect Mum to have another baby at some point."

"Well actually," Emily shared a pointed look with JJ. "We haven't decided which one of us is going to have the baby yet," she explained, watching as Alex did her best to hide her surprise; her frown quickly replaced with a smile that looked a lot more forced than the previous one.

"Oh right," Alex shook her head. "Right. I guess I kind of forgot that both of you could have babies," she laughed nervously. "Guess that's the cool thing about having two Moms huh? So how do you like decide who's going to have the baby?"

"Well we're still talking about it," JJ replied, feeling Emily's nerves practically radiating off of her. "We thought that either I will carry the baby using one of your Mom's eggs, or your Mom will carry the baby using one of my eggs."

"Oh that makes sense," Alex nodded, though she looked far less excited than she originally was. "So the baby will either be my biological brother or sister, or Henry's."

"Yes, but you know we don't care about that," Emily said, trying to meet her daughter's wandering eyes. "No matter who's egg we use, or who carries the baby, we're all family just the same," she continued. "We really wanted to talk to you about how you would feel about all this before we made a decision though."

"I think it's great," Alex finally looked up, doing her best to smile. "I would love another brother. Or a sister," she said. "I'm…I'll be happy with whatever you guys decide."

"Are you sure?" Emily asked, watching as Alex's eyes flicked quickly to JJ before returning to her.

"I'm sure Mom," Alex nodded. "Is that all you guys wanted to talk about? Can I go back to Liv now?"

"Of course Sweetie," JJ replied.

"Okay. Goodnight," Alex leaned forward, kissing both her Mothers on their cheeks. "I love you."

"We love you too," Emily replied for both of them, watching as Alex left the room before turning towards JJ, a worried look on her face. "She's so not okay with this."

"Nope," JJ shook her head, sighing as she placed a kiss on Emily's cheek. "Let's give her a couple days. We'll talk to her again. It'll be okay."

"Okay," Emily nodded, though she couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed, recognizing that Alex only became upset when they mentioned that she could be the one to be having the baby. "It'll be okay."

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Though she had been feeling slightly off when she left the master bedroom after talking with her Mothers, Alex had returned to her room as if nothing of significance had happened; spending the rest of the night talking and laughing with Olivia while they watched movies. If she was being honest, Alex wanted to talk to someone about what she was feeling, but wasn't really sure how, deciding to instead wait for the next night when she was finally given some alone time with her girlfriend.

"I love Olivia, but you have no idea how happy I am to finally get some time with you without her," Spencer pulled Alex into a kiss as soon as the brunette entered her house that night. "And to top it off my parents are out too. We have the whole house to ourselves," she grinned, still kissing Alex as she backed them towards the family room couch. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," Alex replied, falling onto the couch before slightly pulling away, resisting Spencer's attempt to deepen their kiss.

"What's wrong?" Spencer furrowed her brow, tucking Alex's hair behind her ear. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked, noticing the rather distressed look on her girlfriend's face.

"My Moms want to have another baby," Alex blurted out, surprising Spencer who leaned back slightly in order to see the other brunette better.

"That's…a good thing isn't it?" Spencer sounded confused. "I mean I thought you wanted more brothers and sisters? You love Henry."

"Of course I love Henry," Alex sighed. "And I do want more brothers and sisters it's just…they…I just thought…"

"Lex," Spencer took Alex's hands in hers, rubbing her thumbs over them in order to calm her down. "Talk to me."

"I don't know if it's because she had Henry, but I just assumed that if my Moms had more kids that JJ would be the one to have them," Alex began to explain, her eyes focused on her hands, which were still joined with Spencer's. "But they told me that they're talking about having another baby and they haven't decided which one of them will carry the baby. And I know it shouldn't matter…it doesn't matter because….because I'm going to love the baby no matter who has it or who's biological kid it is but….but I just feel weird because…" She paused looking too embarrassed to continue.

"Because your Mom had you and gave you up for adoption?" Spencer guessed, surprised when Alex's eyes immediately filled with tears. "Lex!" She gasped, pulling her girlfriend into a hug. "Lex it's okay!"

"No it's not!" Alex practically sobbed, hiding her face in Spencer's shoulder. "My parents were so happy to tell me and I just froze up. I just got so upset and I don't even know why. It doesn't even make any sense."

"It makes perfect sense Babe," Spencer kissed the side of Alex's head, keeping an arm wrapped around her shoulders as she sat back on the couch. "You don't need to be embarrassed about this Lex. It's understandable that this would be hard for you. It's different. It brings up a lot of things that can be hard for you to think about and I guarantee your Moms understand that too. I mean that's probably why they talked to you about it before they did anything."

"I just want to be happy about it," Alex wiped the tears off her cheeks. "I don't want stuff like this to keep bringing up old issues. I'm happy. I'm so happy but…sometimes I still wish…"

"I know," Spencer nodded understandingly. "But unfortunately that's always going to be there. And it's probably always going to bother you in some way and you know what?" She tipped Alex's chin up so they were looking each other in the eyes. "That's okay. It's okay to be sad about it and it's okay not to be happy right away. You're allowed to work through it first," she reminded her. "You know what you have to do right?"

"I have to talk to my Mom," Alex nodded, sighing as she let her head fall onto Spencer's shoulder. "I'm sorry for ruining our night. I didn't mean to unload all this on you. I just…"

"You didn't ruin anything," Spencer interrupted, placing a kiss on top of Alex's head. "I'm always here to listen to your feelings. You know that," she said, smiling when Alex looked up at her. "Plus any night with you is perfect. I love you."

"I love you too," Alex smiled, leaning up and locking her lips with Spencer's. "You wanna watch a movie or something?"

"That sounds great," Spencer nodded, grabbing the TV remote before getting comfy on the couch, her arm still wrapped around Alex. "Just as long as I get to cuddle with you."

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Work had been difficult for Emily the next couple days as the image of Alex's look of disappointment kept flashing to mind; hating the fact that her daughter was obviously upset about the decision she and JJ had made. Feeling pretty sure she knew _why_ Alex was upset, Emily was beginning to drive herself crazy with worry, needing to talk to the teen in order to ease both their worries.

"I'm talking to Alex tonight," Emily announced in the car on their way home, JJ at the wheel. "I can't take it anymore. I need to know. Do you want to sit down with me?"

"I think it would be better if you talked to her on your own," JJ shook her head, taking her eyes off the road for a short moment in order to look at her wife. "This isn't about me Em. This is about you and Alex."

"I just really thought she would be excited for us," Emily sighed, leaning her head back against the headrest. "I thought she would ask a million questions and that she would be looking forward to the whole thing. She hasn't even brought it up since we talked to her," she continued sounding dejected. "And even when we told her, her happiness was gone so fast."

"It's complicated for her Em. You and I both know that," JJ replied, bringing up a fact that they had both been silently avoiding for the last two days. "The possibility of you having a baby is different than me having the baby. It's hard for her and I know it's hard for you too," she acknowledged another fact that she knew Emily had been avoiding, glancing over to see her wife now looking out the window to avoid her gaze. "The two of you need to deal with that. It's the only way."

"I just…" Emily began, cutting herself off, a struggling look on her face. "Maybe we should forget the possibility of me carrying the baby. Maybe it's just too complicated. Maybe I should just…"

" _Maybe,"_ JJ interrupted, her voice firm. "You should stop being afraid and deal with your feelings. Don't just change your mind because your afraid of what it means for you and Alex. Deal with it Em. It's the only way."

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When Olivia had announced that she was going to return home that afternoon Alex hadn't protested. After more than a week at her house, Alex knew it was time for Olivia to go home to her mother, at least for a few days.

So it was with reassurances that she was welcome back at any time, that Alex had said goodbye to Olivia, opting to spend the afternoon playing with Henry while Jessie prepared dinner, anxiously watching the clock as she waited for her Mothers to return home.

"Hey Kiddos we're home," JJ called as soon as she entered the house shortly before six, Henry running towards the door as soon as he heard her voice. "There's my baby boy," she quickly picked up the little blonde, covering his face with kisses. "Oh I missed you."

"Hey," Alex greeted as she rounded the corner, a smile on her face as she greeted both her Mothers with a kiss to the cheek. "How was work?"

"Not bad," JJ shrugged, handing Henry off to Emily before pulling Alex into a hug. "Where's Liv?"

"She went home," Alex replied as she pulled away from JJ, who had a look of concern on her face. "Don't worry I told her she could come back whenever she needed to. She just figured she should at least see her Mom," she explained before turning her attention to Emily, letting out a deep breath. "Mom can I talk to you?" She asked, surprising Emily who was about to ask her the same thing.

"Of course," Emily nodded, placing Henry down on the floor; the toddler immediately setting off towards the family room. "Upstairs?"

Nodding Alex led the way towards the staircase, missing the look Emily shared with JJ before following the teen up the stairs, the pair silently making their way towards Alex's room. Entering the teen's room, Emily gently shut the door before turning towards her daughter, who looked very much like Emily as she bit her lip rather anxiously.

"Lex," Emily sighed, hating that the teen was obviously worried. "Honey, it's just me."

"I know," Alex replied, her eyes already shiny with tears. "I just…I feel…I don't know…"

"Alex," Emily chuckled, moving forward and pulling the only slightly shorter brunette into a hug. "I'm guessing this is about the baby thing?" She asked, feeling Alex nod her head in confirmation. "You looked kind of unhappy when we told you that I might be the one to have the baby," she decided not to beat around the bush as she lead the teen towards her bed so they could both sit down. "I mean you were happy when we first told you but when we explained the whole thing you kind of shut down there. Reminded me of me to be honest."

Looking slightly ashamed Alex stared at her lap, her cheeks reddening as she shook her head. "It's not that I'm not happy," she finally replied, though her voice was quiet. "I want another little brother or sister. I would actually _love_ a little sister," she admitted. "But I guess I just assumed….I thought that if you guys decided to have another baby that Mum would be the one to have it. I'm not really sure why it never occurred to me that you might."

"I should have talked to you about it," Emily nodded, feeling guilty. "I should have talked to you before your Mum and I talked to you. I knew it would be hard on you. I'm sorry honey."

"Don't be," Alex shook her head, finally looking up, unsurprised to see her Mother's eyes also bright with tears. "I shouldn't have been so surprised that you might want to have another baby…that you might want to carry the baby," she explained. "I mean it's not like your first pregnancy was exactly filled with happy memories. It makes sense that you would want to do it again….especially now that you have Mum with you."

"Honey, being pregnant with you was difficult yes, but it wasn't all unhappy memories," Emily took Alex's hand in hers. "I was sad because I knew I had to give you up and because I was on my own, but I have some very fond memories of singing to you and feeling you kick for the first time. It was difficult but it was also incredibly special," she continued, leaning forward and kissing the younger brunette's forehead. "I'm not trying to replace my memories of being pregnant with you by having another baby. I would never want that."

"I know," Alex sighed, leaning so she was resting her forehead against her Mother's shoulder. "It's just…it's kind of hard thinking about you having a baby because…" she once again struggled to admit what was really bothering her, taking a deep breath as she thought about what Spencer had told her. "It's hard because you gave me up and now you're going to have another baby and you're going to keep it and do all the things you didn't do with me with him or her and I know you're already technically doing that with Henry but it's just different and I…"

"Alex," Emily interrupted, pulling the teen into her arms. "Honey I know. I know. I'm so sorry."

"I'm just…I'm always going to be the kid you gave up for adoption," Alex was talking into Emily's shoulder. "And it's like every time I think I'm over that something brings it all up again and I get all upset."

"Oh kid," Emily shook her head. "That is not something that you have to get over. It is perfectly normal for you to still have a difficult time with all of this... _I'm_ still having a hard time with this," she ran her fingers through the brunette's dark hair. "But sweetheart I hope you know that I'm not going to love Henry or any other baby any different than I love you. The fact that I gave you up when I had you does not mean I love you any less; I gave you up _because_ I love you and I'm always going to love you just as much as the day I had you. You're always going to be my baby," she kissed the top of Alex's head. "You know I don't have to be the one to carry the baby Lex. No decisions have been made and I don't want to do anything that's going to be hard on you."

"I don't want that," Alex replied, looking up to look Emily in the eyes. "I don't want you to not have the baby because of me. I…I'll be okay. I'm trying to be okay, which is why I wanted to talk to you," she explained. "After we talked I didn't want you and Mum to think that I didn't want you guys to have another baby, because I do. And I'm going to be happy no matter who has the baby…they're going to be my baby brother or sister no matter what, and I'm going to love them so much; no matter what. Okay?"

"Okay," Emily smiled, once again kissing the teen's forehead. "And like I said no final decisions have been made okay. Just promise me something?"

"What?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"You just keep talking to me," Emily replied. "You can _always_ tell me how you feel. I love you so much."

"I love you too," Alex grinned, wrapping her arms around the older brunette, feeling much better. "I love you so much.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello readers!**

 **So happy that the holidays are over so that I have time to write again! You all seem a little split on the whole who should have the baby issue, and honestly I haven't decided yet, but I hope you'll like this chapter anyways.**

 **Thanks so much for reading! -J**

 **Chapter 7**

"Lex wake up," Emily shook her daughter's shoulder. "Come on. Get up and get dressed…something comfortable," she said turning on the light as Alex groaned, rolling over. "You have like 30 minutes. Your bag's already packed."

"My…bag?" Alex rubbed her eyes sleepily, sitting up and looking at her Mother as if she was crazy. "What are you…Have you lost it?"

"No, now come on," Emily threw a t-shirt and some shorts at the teen. "We've gotta go."

"Go where?" Alex's voice was whining, Emily already out the door, not even answering her question.

Having no idea what was going on, but figuring she better listen to her Mother, Alex groggily pulled herself out of bed, ignoring the early hour as she pulled on the outfit that was thrown at her before making her way out into the hall. Not hearing any movement upstairs, the teen made her way down to the kitchen, finding both her Mothers there waiting, JJ still in her pajamas.

"What the hell is going on?" Alex stood in the kitchen doorway, a hand on her hip. "Why did you wake me up? Where are we going?"

" _We_ ," Emily pointed to herself and Alex, a smile on her face. "Are going on a trip."

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 _"I want to take Alex on a trip," Emily announced as she made her way into the master bedroom the night she spoke to her daughter about having another baby. "I want to take her to Chicago."_

 _"Okay," JJ nodded, sounding a little confused as she sat on the edge of the bed. "I didn't know she wanted to go. Did she say something?"_

 _"No," Emily shook her head, taking a seat next to the blonde. "No she's didn't ask I just..." she sighed. "I know we talked to her when the anniversary of her parents' death got here and I know she's been doing well and everything but…I feel like it would be good for her. I feel like I need to do this with her…alone," she bit her lip nervously, looking down at the floor so that she missed the smile on her wife's face. "It's not that I don't want you to come…it's just…"_

 _"Em," JJ's voice was amused, running a hand through the brunette's dark hair. "It's okay," she leaned over to kiss the side of her wife's head. "I think it's a good idea."_

 _"You do?" Emily sounded surprised as she turned towards JJ, who was chuckling quietly._

 _"I do," JJ nodded, tucking Emily's hair behind her ear. "I think the two of you could use some time together," she continued. "I know all of this has been hard on Lex, and I know it's hard on you too," she gave the brunette a small smile, understanding that Alex wasn't the only one struggling with the idea of Emily carrying a baby. "You two should spend some time together. Henry and I will be fine while you're away. When were you hoping to go?"_

 _"Soon. Right away," Emily shrugged, not having put much thought into it yet, but wanting to go as soon as she could. "I want to do it before she has to go back to school but I'll have to talk to Hotch."_

 _"Talk to him tomorrow," JJ replied, taking her wife's hand in hers. "He'll understand."_

 _Smiling, Emily leaned forward, capturing JJ's lips with hers, her grin still on her face when they eventually pulled apart. "Thank you. You are…thank you."_

 _"Anything," JJ shrugged, smiling as she placed a chaste kiss on the brunette's lips. "Always."_

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Still having no idea where they were going, Alex said her goodbyes to JJ and Henry, following Emily out the door; intrigued by the suitcases the older brunette was carrying out with them. Even in the car Emily had refused to tell Alex where she was taking her, saying only that she had gotten some time off work as they chatted about nothing in particular until they reached the airport.

"You're taking me to Chicago?" Alex's eyes were watering as she looked up at her Mother after reading the ticket she was handed. "Really?"

"I thought it was time we pay your parents a visit," Emily smiled, Alex immediately throwing her arms around her Mother's middle, hiding her face in the older woman's shirt. "Plus I think it would be nice if we spent some time together. You can show me around a bit, and I talked to Rachel…let her know you'd be in the city so you two can visit a bit and…"

"Thank you," Alex's voice sounded teary, the teen subtly wiping at her eyes before looking up at her Mother. "I…thank you."

"Of course," Emily smiled, kissing the top of her daughter's head, even happier that she had planned the trip as a surprise, the look on the teen's face a bigger reward than she had ever expected.

"How long are we gone for? How come Mum didn't come with us? Did you guys tell Spencer?" The questions were suddenly spewing out of Alex's mouth as she followed Emily towards a set of chairs where they could wait for their flight to board.

"We're going for the week and your Mum and I both thought that you and I could use a trip just the two of us," Emily wrapped her arm around the younger brunette's shoulders. "I talked to Spencer yesterday," she smiled. "I told her I would have you call her later tonight and I made sure that Olivia knew that she could go stay with Mum while we're gone if she needed to. She assured me that she'll be okay though."

"Zoey is home in a couple days," Alex replied. "She'll make sure Liv is okay while Spencer's busy," she smiled. "This is really cool of you Mom. I've…I've missed Chicago. I've been thinking about my parents a lot. This is…it's really nice."

"I'm glad you're happy," Emily smiled as Alex let her head fall to her shoulder. "I love you Baby girl. I'm glad we'll get to spend this week together."

"Me too," Alex grinned. "I love you too."

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"Hi Mom. Hi Dad," Alex placed a bouquet of flowers down in front of her parents grave as she knelt down on the ground in front of it. "I've missed you guys. Sorry it's been so long."

"That's my fault," Emily smiled as she joined Alex on the grass. "Things have been busy."

"We're here now though," Alex said, tracing her finger over her parents' names. "Things have been going really well. Henry's getting so big. He looks just like Mum and he's got the best personality," she continued, wanting to tell her parents about her life, feeling like they were there listening. "He's pretty fond of me, which is pretty awesome."

"They're the best of friends," Emily joined in, smiling at the pleased look on Alex's face. "Henry could not love his big sister more."

Laughing, Alex reached out for her Mother's hand before continuing. "Things are going really well between my Moms too. Their 1 year anniversary is coming up and they threw me a really awesome sweet 16 last month," she continued as Emily rubbed circles on the back of her hand. "We've all been really happy and well our family might be getting bigger soon," she turned to smile at her Mother. "I'll get to be a big sister again…I'd really like a little sister," she paused, considering what else she'd like to share. "The girls are all doing really well. Zoey has been working at a summer camp and Olivia…well she's been having some trouble with her Mom but we've been taking care of her."

"I think you're forgetting someone," Emily poked the teen in a teasing way when she seemed like she wasn't going to continue.

"Spencer and I are still together," Alex continued on, rolling her eyes. "We're…she's…God I love her," Alex admitted with a laugh, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment as she avoided her Mother's gaze. "I know it probably sounds crazy but she's just…she's my best friend and she's so amazing. I really wish you guys could have met her," she said, the look on her face turning sad. "I know you guys would really like her and I feel like you'd be happy for me. She's so smart and funny and just so so determined. She's like a force of nature and I'm so happy with her. I'm just…I'm so happy in general," she shrugged sadly. "I hope that's okay. I hope you guys are happy for me…"

"They are sweetheart," Emily leaned over and placed a kiss on the teen's head. "It's all they want for you."

With a small smile on her face, Alex remained silent for a few moments until her eyes stopped watering, breaking out into a bigger grin as she began to speak again. "I'm going to take Mom all around Chicago this week. I'm going to take her to all our old hangouts...tell her about all the stuff we used to do together," she turned to Emily, smiling as the older brunette pushed her hair behind her ear for her. "We'll come see you again," she said, Emily nodding. "I love you guys so much…I…I miss you."

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Since it was after noon, Emily and Alex had decided to grab lunch after leaving the cemetery; Alex's mood improving as her Mother allowed her to choose a restaurant, deciding on one of her favourite little diners not far from her old house. Lunch was spent talking about various subjects, both enjoying the time to really catch up with each other.

Since Emily wanted the week to be all about Alex, she had allowed the teen to decide how they were going to spend the rest of their afternoon, the brunette eventually asking if they could visit one of her favourite parks before they went to check in to their hotel.

"Come on, it should be just over here," Alex sounded excited; pulling Emily by the hand through the park that was filled with many families enjoying the warm summer day. "God I hope it's still there…maybe this is the wrong way," she stopped, turning her head from side to side as she took in her surroundings. "There," she finally pointed towards a tree not too far away, her pace quickening as she continued to pull Emily along with her.

"Alex slow down," Emily laughed, struggling to keep up. "Where are we going?"

"I need to see if it's still here," Alex reached the tree she had pointed to, kneeling down with a smile on her face as she found what she had been looking for, tracing her finger over a heart with three letters inside that had been carved near the bottom of the tree. "It's still here," she smiled as Emily knelt down next to her.

"M + M + A," Emily ran her hand over her daughter's head. "Matthew, Meredith and Alex?"

"My Dad carved it here when I was like two or three," Alex moved to sit cross-legged in the grass. "We used to come here all the time when I was little and I _always_ had to come see this," she explained, smiling. "We would have picnics under this tree and play soccer or sometimes Mom would bring books and boards games. We spent so much time here until I got older and I didn't think it was cool anymore. I haven't been here to see this in so long."

"Well I'm glad you could bring me," Emily smiled, running her fingers through the teen's hair while they both sat under the tree, neither saying a word for a few moments. "You know I wish I had something like this with my parents," Emily eventually broke the silence. "I can't ever imagine my Mother or Father doing anything like this with me. I can't even imagine them ever stepping foot in a park."

"I dunno I bet if me or Henry asked Grandma to take us to the park now she would totally do it," Alex laughed.

"Yes well she has taken to being a grandmother much better than she took to being a mother," Emily nodded. "And I mean I love it. I love that she's so good with you and Henry. I just wish that I had something like this to look back on. You had some pretty amazing parents."

"I did," Alex nodded, a big smile on her face. "And I also have some other pretty awesome parents now."

"Oh yeah?" Emily raised an eyebrow, wrapping her arm around Alex's shoulder. "You think so?"

"I do," Alex kissed her Mother's cheek. "I'm a pretty lucky kid."

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"Was she surprised? Was she happy?" JJ answered the phone, not even bothering to say hello, obviously excited.

"Well hello to you too Sweetheart," Emily laughed. "I miss you too."

"Yeah, yeah, I miss you," JJ huffed. "But I want to hear about Alex. She was happy wasn't she?"

"She was extremely happy," Emily replied, leaning back against the hotel bed headboard. "We had a great day too. We went to visit Matthew and Meredith and out for lunch at a restaurant that Alex loves and then we spent the afternoon at a park she used to go to when she was younger. She's really happy to be here. I think it will be a good week."

"I'm so glad to hear that," JJ's smile was evident in her voice. "Even though I already miss you guys. What's Lex doing now?"

"She's in the other room talking to Spencer," Emily replied, glad she had opted to get a suite rather than a standard room. "I don't think those two have gone this long without seeing each other since they started dating. It should be interesting."

"Yes well I'm sure they'll survive," JJ laughed. "I may not though. A whole week without both my girls? I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to this."

"You were thinking you would get the whole bed to yourself, you wouldn't have to share any of your snacks for a whole week and you wouldn't have to fight Alex for Henry's attention," Emily replied.

"Hm. Good point," JJ continued to laugh. "You know I think Henry misses you though. He was looking for you when I got home from work today and he was walking around the hallways yelling for Lex too."

"Aww I miss him," Emily sighed as Alex returned to the room, looking happy. "You better give him extra hugs and kisses from me," she smiled. "Hey Lex is here. You wanna talk to her?"

"Yes please," JJ replied happily.

"It's Mum," Emily handed the phone to Alex who was happy to take it.

With no one to talk to, Emily busied herself with a magazine she had picked up at the airport, half listening to Alex's side of the conversation, smiling to herself as Alex told JJ all about their day and how excited she was to be in Chicago. Looking up at the teen, Emily couldn't believe how much the teen had grown in the last two years, how much she had changed. Alex was mature when Emily had met her but her daughter had grown into quite the young woman, impressing her Mother every day.

"Mum said she loves you and she'll call you tomorrow," Alex plopped down on the bed next to Emily, startling her out of her thoughts. "Henry was crying so she had to go."

"Oh okay," Emily nodded, smiling as Alex cuddled up to her side. "So what do you want to do tonight? We could find a movie? Or if you wanted to go out and do something else…"

"A movie actually sounds great," Alex replied. "We have lots of time to explore. I'd rather a night in," she said. "You wanna pick?"

"Nah I'm good with whatever you want," Emily shrugged as Alex grabbed the remote beginning to flick through their options. "Mum really misses us huh? It's gonna be a rough week for her."

"She's not used to being away from us this long," Emily laughed. "Don't worry though, I asked Garcia to stay with her for a few days. She'll be there tomorrow. That should distract her enough to cheer her up."

"Oh good!" Alex grinned, picking a movie and settling against Emily's side. "Is it…can I say something? Is it okay if I say something…about…about the whole baby thing?"

"Of…of course," Emily was rather surprised, trying not to seem nervous as she ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. "You can tell me anything."

"When I was younger…before I knew I was adopted, I always dreamed of having siblings," Alex began. "I wanted a little brother to play sports with and a sister for all the girly stuff," she explained. "I imagined a house full of kids and we always looked alike…until my parents told me and I realized that wasn't a possibility," she paused, picking at her nails. "I would actually love to have a sibling that's actually biologically related to me. I mean I know it doesn't matter. I love Henry and he's my brother no matter what…but I would love a brother or sister who looks like me…who's linked to me in this other way," she sighed. "But I would also love to see you have a baby…being pregnant. I think it would be…well part of it would be hard…but I also think it would be pretty awesome…and amazing."

"Oh yeah?" Emily's hand paused in Alex's hair, her eyes watering as she took a deep breath, trying to calm her emotions.

"Yeah," Alex nodded, smiling as Emily finally reached out for one of her hands in an attempt to stop her picking her nails. "I know you and Mum still have to talk. And honestly I'll be happy no matter what you decide to do but," she looked up at her Mother. "I just thought you should know that I think that you should have the baby."


	8. Chapter 8

**Just another happy chapter because sometimes you can just do without the drama! Hope you all enjoy! -J**

 **Chapter 8**

"Garcia no it's fine…I told you I'm fine…no…I don't need a babysitter Penelope," JJ sighed, plopping down on the couch with her cell phone to her ear. "Go have fun with Derek; Henry and I will be fine on our own…no I gave Jessie the night off. She went out with some friends…no Garcia it's still fine….okay I'm hanging up now! Okay! Love you too! Goodnight!"

Ending the call, JJ couldn't help but shake her head, laughing at her best friends antics. "Your Aunt Penelope is a crazy lady Henry," she said to the little blonde who was currently playing with his blocks on the floor in front of her. "She doesn't think we can handle a night on our own. She thinks we're missing Mommy and Alex too much," she continued to talk to the 1 year old even though he didn't appear to be listening. "Of course we miss Mommy and Alex, but we're capable of staying on our own," she rolled her eyes just as the doorbell rang. "That better not be her," she scoffed, picking Henry up and heading for the door. "Garcia I swear to…oh Spencer!" She was surprised to find the young brunette on the other side of the door. "Hi Honey! I thought you were Garcia! I wasn't expecting you!"

"I hope it's okay," Spencer replied as JJ stepped aside to let her inside. "Melissa's with her boyfriend and my parents went out. I didn't really feel like hanging out by myself so I thought I'd see what you and Henry were doing. Is that okay?"

"That's more than okay," JJ smiled, placing a struggling Henry back on the ground. "I was actually just thinking of ordering a pizza. You interested?"

"Yes please!" Spencer replied happily, allowing Henry to take her hand and lead her into the family room.

Knowing Spencer's favourite, JJ ducked into the kitchen to call for a pizza and grab drinks before heading back to the family room where Spencer was playing with Henry on the floor.

"Pizza will be here in half an hour," JJ announced, placing a Coke on the table beside the brunette.

"Thanks," Spencer smiled, taking a block Henry handed her. "So where's Garcia anyways? I thought Alex said she was staying with you."

"She went out with Morgan," JJ replied, opening up the beer she had grabbed for herself and taking a sip. "They wanted me to go with them but I wanted to spend the night with Henry and I really didn't want them to change their plans for me," she explained. "I'm not sure why Emily and Alex think I need Garcia to stay with me while they're away though. I've been away from them before. I'm totally fine."

Looking at JJ, Spencer couldn't help but laugh. "You miss them too huh?"

"So bad," JJ laughed, shaking her head. "I'm really not used to being away from both of them. I know it's only been a few days, but it feels like forever. I mean I love hanging out with Henry but he isn't the best conversationalist. And he'll only let me cuddle with him when he's half asleep," she said, making the teen laugh. "I take it you're missing Alex pretty badly?"

"You know it's weird," Spencer replied. "I've been busy pretty much all summer. We really haven't had any time to actually spend together and yet I miss her like crazy," she admitter, her cheeks turning red. "I can't stand being away from my girlfriend. Does that make me pathetic?"

"Well if you're pathetic I'm pathetic too," JJ shrugged, taking another sip of her beer. "Might as well be pathetic together."

"True," Spencer laughed, turning her attention back to Henry for a moment before asking. "Would it…would it be too much to ask if I could stay over tonight? I mean I know Alex isn't here but I just…"

"Spencer," JJ interrupted, a smile on her face as the brunette looked up at her. "You are more than welcome to stay. You're always welcome."

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When both JJ and Spencer's phones went off at the same time later that night the pair couldn't help but laugh, both knowing who was calling. With smiles on their faces both answered their phones.

"Hey Lex," Spencer answered with a smile at the same time that JJ greeted Emily beside her.

"Hey! Wait was that…Was that my Mum I just heard?" Alex asked sounding slightly confused. "Where are you?"

"Well actually I'm at your house," Spencer admitted with a laugh. "There's no one home at my house and I wasn't really feeling like staying home alone so I dropped by here. We ordered pizza and now we're just watching a movie."

"Oh that's awesome," Alex replied. "I'm glad you two could at least keep each other company. Are you staying there tonight?" She asked, knowing JJ was likely to offer if Spencer hadn't asked herself.

"Yeah actually," Spencer chuckled, not surprised that her girlfriend knew her well enough to know that she would want to stay the night. "I don't really know when my parents or Melissa will be home and well…well I miss you so I thought I would stay here…in your room. As long as that's okay."

"That is more than okay," Alex laughed. "I would much rather you stay there then go home to that big empty house by yourself."

"Thanks," Spencer replied as JJ moved into the dining room to talk to Emily. "So how's it going? Are you and your Mom still having a good time? What did you do today?"

"Man Spence it has been so great," Alex told her, sounding so happy. "My Mom and I have been all over the city…seriously I don't think there's anything we haven't done. It has been so much fun. We've done things here that I haven't done since I was a little kid and it's been awesome," she explained enthusiastically. "We went to see Rachel today. She hung out with us most of the day. It was really nice getting to catch up and everything."

"That's great," Spencer said; glad to hear Alex had been able to visit with her childhood friend. "I'm so happy you're having such a good time…although I gotta admit I'm seriously ready for you to come home," she said, laughter coming through on the other end of the phone.

"I miss you too," Alex was still laughing. "I mean I'm having a great time but I miss you. And I miss Mum and Henry too. How are they doing?"

"They're good! They're both good!" Spencer replied. "Henry and I played with his blocks for a while before he went to bed. I got to read him his bedtime story actually. He's so cute," she explained. "And your Mum misses you…but she's good. We've been having a good time. You know I love hanging out with your Moms."

"Yeah I guess I get that," Alex nodded, even though Spencer couldn't see her. "I mean I don't like to tell them this but they're pretty cool as far as parents go. And from what I can tell they're pretty fond of you."

"Oh really? Well thank God for that," Spencer and Alex were both laughing now. "So only a couple more days huh?"

"We'll be home before you know it," Alex replied. "You think you'll be able to fit me into your busy schedule when I get back?"

"Hmm well that's a tough one," Spencer teased. "I think I might be able to squeeze you in," she laughed. "Seriously though let's do something special okay? Just you and me?"

"That sounds wonderful," Alex said with a smile in her voice. "You just tell me when and where and I'll be there," she told her. "Oh hey it looks like my Moms are wrapping up. You wanna talk to my Mom while I talk to Mum?"

"Sure," Spencer agreed. "Call me tomorrow?"

"You got it. I love you," Alex replied.

"I love you too," Spencer responded just as JJ came over, the pair switching phones with a smile.

"Hi Honey," JJ greeted her daughter as Spencer began talking to Emily. "How are you?"

"I'm good Mum! I'm really good," Alex told her, knowing she probably heard all about her day from her Mom. "Hey listen thanks for taking Spencer in tonight. That's really cool of you; she really hates being home by herself."

"You know Spencer's welcome here anytime," JJ replied, plopping down on the couch. "I love having her."

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On the last day of their trip, Emily and Alex decided to take it easy. The pair woke up late, deciding to get breakfast before travelling to the cemetery for one last visit with Alex's parents.

"Mom…do you think I could talk to them on my own for a while? Please?" Alex asked, biting her lip as she looked up at her Mother from where she sat in the grass.

"Of course Sweetheart," Emily agreed right away, kissing the teen on the forehead before turning back to the headstone in front of them. "I'll see you two soon," she said, kissing two of her fingers before touching the stone. "I'll take good care of her," she said as she stood up. "Take your time Lex. I'll be in the car."

"Thanks Mom," Alex replied, waiting until the older brunette was out of earshot before turning back towards her parents' grave. "So it's our last day here," she sighed not really knowing where else to start. "This whole week has been…just amazing. Mom and I have had such a good time and for the first time in a long time I just feel…I guess I just feel closer to you. I can…I can feel you guys with me everywhere I go here," she cleared her throat, trying to choke back the tears that were threatening to fall. "I've gotten to tell Mom about all the things we used to do…things I had forgotten about until we were somewhere and then…it's crazy how sometimes you can just be hit with a memory like that," she sniffed, wiping away a tear that fell down her cheek. "I really miss you guys."

Falling silent for a moment, Alex began running her hand over the grass, obviously lost in thought. "I told Mom that she should be the one to carry her and Mum's next baby," she eventually said, feeling like she needed to talk about it. "I wasn't really sure that was what I wanted at first…honestly I felt a little jealous…thinking about Mom having another baby, but I've realized it doesn't matter," she continued. "I think she deserves to experience another pregnancy and I'm going to love my little brother or sister no matter what. I was actually hoping you guys would do me a favour though. Just…I was hoping you guys would watch over the baby. I really just want everything to go well for my Moms when they do decide to have another kid and I just want the baby to get here safely and healthy. So if you guys could just look out that would be great," she smiled, running her finger over her parents' names like she did at the beginning of the week. "I love you Mommy. I love you Daddy," she said, kissing her fingers the same way Emily did. "Miss you."

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"So kid, you ready to go home tomorrow?" Emily asked Alex later that night, the pair laying together in Emily's bed, wanting to get to bed early since they were flying home the next morning.

"Yes…and no," Alex replied, turning her head to look at her Mother who simply raised an eyebrow in question. "I miss Mum and Henry and Spencer and the girls," she explained. "But I also don't want this week to end. I've a lot of fun with you Mom. I feel like…I don't know," she shrugged, looking suddenly embarrassed. "I guess I've just enjoyed being able to share more about my childhood with you."

"I've enjoyed that too," Emily smiled, running her hand over the teen's head before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer. "It meant a lot to me."

"Me too," Alex nodded, tucking her head under Emily's chin. "I know I don't talk about my childhood a lot…mostly it's because it makes me miss my parents…but sometimes I think that maybe it will…well sometimes I worry that it will upset you."

"What? Why?" Emily was surprised, pulling back so she could see her daughter properly. "Why would you think that?"

"I don't really know," Alex once again shrugged. "I guess because you missed it," she said. "I know giving me up was hard and I don't want to make you sad about it."

"You don't have to worry about that Lex," Emily shook her head. "I wish more than anything that I could have been there for all of it. I wish that I could have been there for you, but I _love_ you Alexandra. I want to hear all about your life," she continued. "I want to hear about all of the memories and all of the stories and traditions; any of it. Because I know it makes you happy, and if you're happy, I'm happy. Got it?"

"Got it," Alex smiled, returning her head to Emily's chest, taking comfort in her Mother's fingers immediately running through her hair. "What's the first thing you're gonna do when we get home?" She asked.

"Well, first I am going to kiss my gorgeous wife," Emily replied, making Alex laugh. "And then I am going to grab your brother and give him a million hugs and kisses….well maybe just a few because he'll probably squirm away to get to you."

"Probably," Alex laughed, smiling at the thought of seeing Henry soon. "I miss that kid."

"Me too baby," Emily kissed Alex's forehead. "Do you have plans with Spencer?"

"She wants to do something special," Alex nodded. "But she hasn't exactly told me what. Will it be okay if I go over there though? You don't think Mum will be upset do you? I mean I'll definitely spend the afternoon with her and Henry."

"Mum will understand," Emily chuckled, still running her fingers through the teen's hair. "I think after a week of hanging out with your Mom you deserve a night with your girlfriend. You think Spencer's going to plan something romantic?" She teased, poking Alex's sides.

"I don't know," Alex laughed, struggling to get away until Emily finally stopped her poking. "I mean I think special means romantic, but who knows. I'm just looking forward to a date night," she continued. "You have any big plans with Mum for your anniversary yet? I mean it's getting pretty close."

"I haven't made any definitive plans yet, but I've got some ideas," Emily replied. "I mean I may have a trick or two up my sleeve, but I'm not quite ready to share them," she laughed. "And you know our anniversary coming up means something else is even sooner."

"Ugh don't remind me," Alex scoffed. "I'm so not ready to go back to school."

"Junior year," Emily nodded. "College is like just around the corner, which is probably the most frightening thought I've had today."

"Don't' worry Mommy you've still got two more full years of high school," Alex laughed. "And I promise to try really hard not to pick a college too far away from you."

"Thank you," Emily kissed Alex's head, hugging her tightly, sighing as she really thought about her daughter going away to college. "You are going to do amazing things kid. I just know it."

"I'm pretty sure you have to say that," Alex snorted.

"I would say it even if I didn't have to," Emily replied, just as Alex let out a big yawn. "We should get some sleep, we've got to be up early tomorrow. I love you baby."

"Love you too Mom," Alex replied. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Sweet Girl. Sweet Dreams."


	9. Chapter 9

**So I had a lot of thoughts about this next chapter and I just had to get it down, which is why I'm updating this story again rather than my Rizzoli and Isles story like I usually do. Sometimes you've just gotta go with the inspiration!**

 **Thanks so much to everyone who's still reading! Hope you enjoy! -J**

 **Chapter 9**

"Mum we're home! Mum! Henry!" Alex called as soon as she and Emily entered their house the next day, the teen feeling like a little kid, excited at the prospect of seeing her blonde Mother. "Mum?"

"I'm here, we're here!" JJ's voice came from the staircase, the blonde doing her best to get down the stairs as quickly as possible while carrying Henry with her. "We're here! You're home! Oh we missed you two!"

"We missed you too!" Emily grinned. "Now give me that little boy," she said, taking a giggling Henry from JJ's arms, immediately covering him in kisses while JJ wrapped her arms around Alex.

"I missed you Mum," Alex whispered as JJ placed a kiss on the side of her head.

"Oh kid you have no idea," JJ replied, trying not to become weepy. "You had a good time though? How was your flight?"

"Perfect. Everything was perfect," Alex grinned as she pulled back turning towards Emily and Henry. "Hi Henry!" She greeted the small blonde who had turned her way with a big smile on his face.

"Al!" Henry exclaimed, reaching out towards his sister, who immediately took him from their Mother, allowing JJ and Emily to share a proper hello.

"You are beautiful," Emily couldn't help the big smile on her face as she pulled her wife into a kiss. "So…so…beautiful," she said between kisses.

"And you look very happy," JJ laughed when she finally pulled away. "God I missed you," she sighed, tucking Emily's hair behind her ear. "I am so glad you two are back. Please tell me I at least get a few hours with you before you run off to see Spencer?" She turned to Alex.

"You've got me all day," Alex nodded. "I'm not going over to Spencer's till dinner.

With the summer dwindling down, Spencer had promised Alex she would cut down her volunteering hours so they could spend some more time together, but since she knew that Alex would want to spend the day with her family, Spencer had opted to get in one last afternoon while she still could.

"Perfect!" JJ grinned, wrapping her arm around Alex's shoulder and leading her and Henry towards the family room. "Now come on. Come tell me about your trip. I know we talked on the phone but I want to hear more. I want to hear everything."

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"Is he asleep?" JJ kept her voice low, sticking her head into Henry's room where Alex had been rocking the little blonde to sleep, putting him down for his afternoon nap.

"He's completely out," Alex nodded, placing Henry down in his crib before quietly following JJ out into the hall. "Where's Mom?"

"Laying down for a bit," JJ laughed. "It appears your busy week has finally caught up with her. I thought she was going to fall asleep standing up. I told her to take a nap," she explained. "What about you? Are you tired?"

"Nah I feel alright," Alex shrugged, following her Mum down the stairs and towards the family room, the pair immediately flopping down on the couch. "Man it's good to be home," she sighed as Sergio jumped up on the couch beside her. "I mean I loved every single minute in Chicago. But I missed it here. I missed this house and my bed and all the people here. I missed this," She placed her head on JJ's shoulder.

"Me too honey," JJ agreed with a nod and a kiss on the top of the head. "So do you have any idea what Spencer has planned for you this evening? Is it just going to be the two of you or are the girls joining you? Zoey's back in town isn't she?"

"She is, but I'm gonna see her and Liv tomorrow," Alex replied. "Tonight's just for me and Spencer. All she has told me is she wants to do something special. I'm not really sure what that means but I think it should be nice."

"Knowing Spencer I'm sure it will be," JJ chuckled tightening her hold on the teen. "So almost time to go back to school huh? You getting excited? Nervous?"

"I'm not nervous," Alex shook her head, though she didn't remove it from JJ's shoulder. "And I guess I'm kind of excited…but also not ready to go back. You know Mom said it's a pretty big year…that I've gotta start making some pretty big choices."

"Well she's right," JJ began playing with Alex's hair. "You might not be applying to colleges yet this year, but the classes you choose, your grades and your extra curriculars are all going to affect where you end up getting in."

"How did you choose where you wanted to go to college?" Alex asked, tilting her head so she could look up at the blonde. "I mean I haven't really given this much thought before. Spencer seems to always have college on the brain and I…I guess I really have no idea what I want to do. Or where I want to go. Is that normal?"

"That's perfectly normal," JJ chuckled. "When I was your age I had no idea where I wanted to go. Actually to be honest I wasn't even sure college was an option," she explained. "My parents didn't exactly have a lot of money. I figured I'd be lucky if I was even able to go to community college, so I just focused on soccer, I figured earning a scholarship would be my only chance. I guess that sort of made my decision for me."

"I guess there's a lot more to consider than I thought there would be," Alex sounded slightly worried, though she took a deep breath to calm herself. "I mean I don't really know what I want to do after college, and I don't want to be too far from you guys. Then there's Spencer…I mean who knows if we'll even be together then but…I can't really imagine being away from her either."

"I understand what you're saying," JJ replied, though she felt an odd sense of dread at the thought of how fast the teen was growing up. "But you know college is a decision you have to make for you Lex. I know you want to factor all of us into your decision…and trust me when I say I would _hate_ for you to be far away…but college is for you. You need to do what is best for you; not me and your Mom and not Spencer either. You get that?"

"Yeah I get it," Alex sighed, moving to wrap her arms around JJ's middle, her eyes beginning to close as exhaustion finally caught up with her. "I get it," she yawned. "But I don't…I can't imagine being away from you and Mom. I don't…I don't want to be."

"I know baby," JJ laughed softly, feeling the teen getting heavier in her arms, knowing she was falling asleep. "I don't want that either," she admitted when she knew the brunette was out. "I don't want that at all."

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Alex wasn't really sure why, but she felt nervous as she headed over to Spencer's later that day. Happy to be reuniting with her girlfriend, and wanting the night to be special, Alex had put on a dress before asking JJ to help with her hair and makeup, her stomach full of butterflies as she kissed both her Mothers goodbye.

Approaching Spencer's side door, Alex raised a shaking hand, knocking twice before folding her hands in front of her, hearing footsteps running down the stairs on the other side of the door.

"You're home!" Spencer practically squealed, throwing her arms around the shorter brunette! "God I missed you," she said before her lips were captured by Alex.

It was a few minutes before the young couple pulled apart, Alex gasping as she finally got a good look at Spencer, who was wearing a red sundress that showed off her long legs. "You look great," Alex was unable to hide the smirk on her face.

"So do you," Spencer grinned, taking in the flowery dress Alex had chosen to wear as she ran her fingers through the shorter brunette's hair, which she wore down and wavy. "I love your hair like this. It looks gorgeous. _You_ look gorgeous," she said, leaning in for another kiss, resisting the urge to deepen it as she pulled her girlfriend inside. "Come on. Come see."

Allowing Spencer to lead her by the hand, Alex's jaw dropped open as she was pulled further into the Hastings house, the dining room table set for two with candles and flowers in the middle. "Spence this is…it's beautiful! Thank you!" She squeezed her girlfriend's hand, smiling as the taller brunette pulled her chair out for her, allowing her to sit.

"I ordered your favourite," Spencer said, pulling a cover off the plate in front of Alex, revealing chicken parm from Alex's favourite Italian restaurant. "Everyone's out so we won't be interrupted or anything," she said, flicking on the stereo before taking a seat across from Alex. "You know I'm really glad you had a good time with your Mom and everything, but I am so happy you're back."

"Me too," Alex smiled, reaching across the table and taking Spencer's hand. "I missed you more than I thought was possible, but you know you didn't have to do all this for me. I would have been happy watching a movie or just hanging out. This is really nice though."

"You deserve it," Spencer shrugged, smile still on her face. "I wanted to do it," she continued to hold Alex's hand. "So how was your trip? You got to visit with your parents a lot?"

"I did," Alex nodded, taking a bite of her dinner. "I told them all about you. Told them how crazy smart you are and beautiful and funny. I told them they would have loved you and that I am so, so in love with you," she said, both brunettes grinning. "I didn't really realize how much I wanted…needed to talk to them until I got there. I wanted to tell them about my life now. I feel like I've changed so much since I moved here and I wanted them to know about it. I know it probably sounds silly…"

"It doesn't sound silly at all," Spencer interrupted, squeezing Alex's hand so she would look up. "I think it's nice actually. I'm glad you told them about me. I really wish I could have met them."

"Me too," Alex agreed. "Now I think we've talked enough about my week. I want to hear about what you've been doing; all of it."

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"This probably sounds ridiculous but I missed tucking him in at night," Emily sighed, flopping down on the bed beside JJ after putting Henry to bed. "I missed story time and sleepy cuddles. I mean I know he isn't always cooperative at bedtime but I really didn't want tonight to end."

"Yes well I think he missed his Mommy," JJ smiled, turning her head to accept a kiss from the brunette. "I'm glad you didn't stay over there all night though, I missed you in here."

"Oh you did huh?" Emily raised an eyebrow, laughing as she rolled on top of the blonde, giving her another kiss before pulling back, holding herself up on her elbows so she could hover over her wife.

"You look happy," JJ grinned, reaching up and tucking a piece of hair behind the brunette's ear. "Like happier than I think I've ever seen you."

"Well I am happy," Emily replied, placing a kiss on JJ's nose before rolling back onto her back, reaching out for her wife's hand. "This last week was…I don't even know how to describe it Jen. I mean part of me wishes you and Henry were there with us but Alex and I had a great time together. Alex was just so…so open and happy and I felt like I was seeing her as she was as a kid you know? Not a teenager but just a kid."

"I'm glad you two got to take that trip together," JJ nodded. "It was a great idea and I really think it meant a lot to Lex. She seems really happy too," she said. "I mean I don't want you two leaving me again anytime soon, but I'm glad you did it."

"Me too," Emily agreed, rolling onto her side so she could see JJ better. "You know there's one thing Lex and I talked about while we were away that I didn't tell you on the phone."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" JJ asked.

"Lex and I talked about the baby again," Emily began. "And while she would really love to have a biological brother or sister, she would also like if I was the one to carry the baby. She said whatever we decide she's happy."

"That's great Em," JJ grinned, thrilled by the prospect that they would be able to move forward with their baby plans. "And what about you? I know the idea of carrying the baby is hard for you too. What are you thinking? Where's your head at?"

"Honestly?" Emily quirked an eyebrow as JJ nodded. "I won't lie Jen, it still scares the crap out of me but you know what? I wanna do it," she smiled. "I want to do it because I want to do this with you and I know you're going to be there with me every step of the way…even when I'm freaking out."

"Especially then," JJ laughed, shuffling closer so she could give the brunette a kiss. "I will be with you every step of the way; for every day of it, anything you need," she smiled. "And you know, even if you carry the baby we could still give Alex a biological brother or sister."

"That wasn't our agreement," Emily shook her head. "We wanted the baby to come from both of us."

"Oh Em that doesn't matter to me," JJ replied. "I'm going to love this baby no matter what and I'll be happy no matter what."

"I don't know Jen. I…"

"Let's just think about it okay?" JJ interrupted before Emily could make any more excuses. "Let's just consider it. Please?"

"Okay," Emily nodded, smiling at the blonde's big grin as JJ rolled on top of her.

"Did I mention how glad I am to have you back?" JJ laughed, straddling her wife's waist.

"You may have mentioned that," Emily nodded, pulling the blonde down into a kiss, which immediately became heated. "But you know…" she was breathless when they pulled apart. "You never told me how much."

"Well then," JJ smirked. "I better show you."

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After finishing with dinner, Alex and Spencer had retreated to Spencer's bedroom, wanting to ensure they had some privacy if her parents or Melissa returned home. Having missed each other, it didn't take long for a make-out session to begin, the young couple completely caught up in each other as they lay on Spencer's bed, the taller of the two brunettes on top.

"Do you think we'll be together forever?" Alex asked, pulling away from Spencer rather suddenly, her breathing rapid, as Spencer remained on top of her trying to catch her own breath.

"W-what?" Spencer looked confused. "What do you…where did that come from?"

"I don't know," Alex shrugged. "My Moms have been talking about college a lot lately and I guess…I don't know," she looked slightly flustered. "Every time I think about where I want to go to college I inevitably think about where you want to go because I can't imagine being away from you but I don't even know if we'll be together then and that scares me even more and…"

Alex was cut off by Spencer's lips on hers; Spencer smiling when she eventually pulled away. "I love you," Spencer laughed, sitting up so she was straddling Alex's lap before pulling her up so they were sitting face to face. "I love you," she repeated, tucking Alex's rather messy hair behind her ear. "And honestly I have no idea where we're going to be two years from now. Unfortunately we have no idea what will happen in that time," she continued. "But I like to think that our love is real and that it's going to last a very long time. College is still a pretty long time away Lex, and while I would love if we could factor each other into our decisions we have to choose our colleges for ourselves, not for each other."

"That's what Mum said too," Alex nodded, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend's neck. "I just hate the thought of us being separated."

"So then don't think about it," Spencer shook her head, placing a kiss on the tip of Alex's nose. "Let's just enjoy this okay? Let's just be in love and happy. The rest of it can wait till later. Okay?"

"Okay," Alex cracked a smile, pulling Spencer back into a kiss before lying them back down on the bed, things immediately becoming heated again as Spencer's hand travelled up Spencer's thigh, beginning to push up her dress. "Spence," Alex once again broke the kiss. "I…I'm ready," she said, her heart beating quickly.

"You're…oh," Spencer looked surprised as she realized what Alex was referring to. "Are you sure? Because we don't…we don't have to," she shook her head. "There's no rush Lex."

"I'm sure," Alex replied, smiling as she threaded her fingers through Spencer's hair, pulling her in for a quick kiss before pulling away again. "I've never been more sure of anything actually. I love you Spencer. And I'm ready."


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello!**

 **I feel like I am getting a bit repetitive with this story but I'm going to make an effort to do better! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter though!**

 **Thanks so much to everyone who's reading! Enjoy! -J**

 **Chapter 10**

Emily knew. As soon as she heard the front door open later that night, the brunette had pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, making her way out into the hallway just as Alex came up the stairs. Though she had been waiting for her daughter, Emily couldn't help freezing in her tracks when she caught sight of the younger brunette, taking in the slightly disheveled hair and the love struck look on the young girl's face; and she knew.

"Hi Sweetheart," Emily somehow found her voice, plastering a smile on her face. "Did you have a good time with Spencer?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. It was great," Alex replied, her eyes shining with a happiness she couldn't quite control. "Spence ordered from my favourite restaurant and set up a nice little candlelight dinner. It was really nice," she explained, smile still on her face.

"Good. That's good," Emily nodded, feeling a little like she was in shock, wanting to ask a question but afraid to ask. "I'm glad you had a good time."

"Yeah. I'm pretty tired though," Alex told her, smile still on her face. "I'm going to go to bed. You should get back to Mum," she gestured towards the master bedroom with her head. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay," Emily replied, watching until Alex was at her own bedroom door before saying anything else. "I love you Honey," she called out, feeling like her little girl was all grown up.

"I love you too Mom," Alex turned back around, making her way over to the older brunette and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight."

"Night," Emily tried to smile, waiting until Alex was shut inside her room before robotically making her way back to her own room, rousing JJ as she got back into bed.

"Hey," JJ smiled sleepily as she rolled over to face her wife. "Where'd you go?" She asked, fully opening her eyes only to notice Emily staring at the wall on the other side of the room. "What's wrong?" She sat up, turning on the bedside lamp. "Em?"

"Lex is home," Emily replied, still not turning towards the blonde. "I heard the door open so I went out to see how her night went and…and she…"

"Emily," JJ placed a finger under the brunette's chin, turning her head so that brown eyes met blue. "What is it?" She asked, worried now.

"Alex she…I think…Alex…." Emily was struggling. "Alex had sex," she finally blurted out, surprising JJ, whose eyes widened.

"She said that?" JJ asked.

"She didn't have to," Emily shook her head. "She didn't have to…I could…I could tell. It was all over her face when she came in."

"That's a pretty big deal," JJ replied carefully, reaching out for Emily's hand, to comfort not just Emily but herself as well. "If you're right…"

"I'm right," Emily interrupted, not a single doubt in her mind.

"Well then it's a big deal," JJ nodded, trying to be the rational one. "She'll come to us when she's ready. You need to…we have to give her time and wait until she comes to us. Okay? You're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," Emily replied, unsure if she was even telling the truth. "She'll come to us," she nodded. "She'll come to us."

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With her mind filled with thoughts of Spencer, Alex struggled to fall asleep that night, replaying the events of the night over and over in her head. The teen was aware her Mother knew what had happened that night; she could see it in the way the older brunette looked at her, could hear it in the way she told her she loved her, but she was far to happy to worry about that yet. As much as she knew she should talk to her Mothers about what had happened, Alex simply wanted to enjoy the moment for a while, even though she wanted to talk to someone about it.

Knowing exactly who she needed to talk to, Alex text Olivia early the next morning, asking the blonde if she would come over before the other girls, telling her she wanted to talk to her alone. Intrigued, Olivia was quick to agree, showing up at the Prentiss household just before lunch.

"I knew you missed me most," Olivia greeted Alex in the foyer with a hug. "Had to see me before the other girls because you don't want them to be jealous right?"

"Technically I saw Spencer last night," Alex laughed, returning the hug. "But sure."

"Where are your Moms? I wanna say hi," Olivia asked as she pulled away from her friend, moving to walk towards the hallway before Alex reached out and grabbed her hand.

"You can say hi later," Alex shook her head, pulling Olivia towards the stairs. "I've got to tell you something first. Come on. My room."

"What is with you?" Olivia was laughing as Alex pulled her up the stairs and towards her bedroom, the brunette quickly shutting the door as soon as they were both inside. "What is going on? What is so important that I can't even say hi to your…"

"Spencer and I had sex," Alex blurted out, standing against the bedroom door, watching as Olivia's mouth immediately fell open. "Last night," she clarified even though it was probably unnecessary. "We had sex…last night…at Spencer's."

"You had…you and Spencer…" Olivia kept opening and closing her mouth, obviously struggling to speak. "Oh. My. God," she finally squealed, throwing her arms up and around Alex, pulling her further into the room, eventually sitting them both down on the bed so they were facing each other. "Oh my God. I can't even…Oh my God."

"You already said that," Alex laughed, her cheeks reddening. "Please say something else because I'm kind of freaking out here and I really need to talk to someone about this."

"I'm sorry, that's just…it's…wow," Olivia shook her head, pushing her hair back out of her face. "I'm just surprised! I thought you said you weren't ready. I thought you guys were waiting."

"We were," Alex nodded, her hands shaking with both excitement and nerves, relieved to be getting everything off her chest. "We were waiting but we were together last night…we had this really romantic dinner and then I don't know," she shrugged. "I love her so much. I am so in love with her and suddenly I wasn't really sure what exactly I was waiting for. I was ready."

"Wow," Olivia repeated, nodding her head as she stared at Alex, still looking slightly shocked. "How…how was it?"

"It was…it was amazing," Alex admitted her blush only deepening. "I don't even know how to explain it Liv. It was just…it was amazing. I don't think I've ever felt closer to Spencer and I'm not really sure if it's possible but I think I'm even more in love with her than I already was."

With a grin on her face, Olivia could only seem to stare at Alex, admiring the look of happiness and love all over the brunette's face. "You are seriously adorable," she eventually laughed, Alex joining in. "Seriously I don't think I've ever seen you so happy. And this is such a huge deal for you and Spencer. Did you tell your Moms?"

"No," Alex shook her head; her shoulder's slumping slightly, feeling a little guilty that she hadn't talked to her Moms like she had promised she would. "I'm pretty sure my Mom knows though. I mean she saw me when I got home last night and it kind of seemed like she knew…like she understood."

"Considering she's a profiler that would make sense," Olivia nodded. "You're going to talk to them though aren't you?"

"Eventually," Alex replied, biting her lip. "I want to. I just…I wanted to talk to you first," she laughed. "I needed to talk to someone who I knew would be excited."

"Well you definitely came to the right place," Olivia grinned, making Alex laugh even more. "Now I want details. Seriously. I want to know _everything_."

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Though the original plan had been for Alex and her friends to hang out at the house, the teens had decided to take a trip to the mall; wanting to do some back to school shopping since their summer was rapidly winding down. After checking the refrigerator, JJ had announced that they were in desperate need of groceries, leaving Emily home with Henry while she went to the store.

"Looks like it's just you and me Henry," Emily kissed the grinning blonde's cheek just as the doorbell rang. "You, me and whoever that is," she corrected, heading towards the front door and checking the window, surprised to see Elizabeth Prentiss standing on the other side, quickly opening the door. "Mother, hi," she greeted, sounding surprised. "Was I expecting you? I didn't even know you were in the city."

"It was a rather impromptu trip," Elizabeth replied as she entered the house. "I hope it's okay that I stopped in. I just had to come see my grandchildren."

"Of…of course," Emily nodded, handing Henry off into Elizabeth's waiting arms, still surprised at her Mother's love for being a Grandmother. "That's actually…that's really nice. It's nice to see you."

"Oh I missed you Henry," Elizabeth kissed the little blonde's cheek. "You're getting so big. You're such a handsome little guy aren't you?" She continued, Emily slightly entertained by the voice her Mother was using.

"He looks so much like Jen," Emily smiled, leading her Mother towards the family room. "I actually think he looks more and more like her everyday. He's starting to imitate people a lot now though. He's basically become Alex's shadow."

"Where is my granddaughter?" Elizabeth asked, looking around as if expecting the teen to appear from behind the couch.

"She's out with her friends at the moment. I would have had her stay home if I knew you were coming," Emily explained. "Will you be able to stay until she gets back? Jen went out to get groceries. You're welcome to stay for dinner."

"You know what, that sounds wonderful," Elizabeth smiled, Emily doing her best not to be too surprised, but rather pleased to have the older woman's company. "So what brings you to the city anyways? I thought you were still in London."

"Work mostly," Elizabeth replied, her attention still on Henry who was happily playing with her necklace. "I saw an opportunity to come spend some time here and I took it. I've been missing my family."

"Well that's nice to hear," Emily smiled, suddenly struck by a thought as she watched her Mother interacting with her son. "You know Mom it would be nice if the kids got to see you more. I mean I'm sure they would love it," she said, deciding to fill her Mother in on her little secret. "And you know when the next one comes I want you to be in their life as well."

"The next one? As in the next child?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as Emily simply grinned in response. "You two are going to have another baby?"

"That's the plan," Emily nodded, feeling like her smile was permanently etched on her face. "I mean so far all we've done is discuss it, but we're planning on going to see a someone about our options soon."

"Oh Emily that's wonderful," Elizabeth smiled. "I'm so happy to hear that. I would love another grandchild. Which one of you will carry the child? Have you decided that yet?"

"I think it's going to be me actually," Emily replied, feeling more and more confident about that answer. "I mean we've gone back and forth about it quite a bit, but I want to do it. I want it to be me."

"Have you told Alexandra about that yet?" Elizabeth asked, immediately understanding why the decision was a difficult one.

"We've talked it out quite a bit actually," Emily nodded. "It was difficult at first but she's looking forward to it now. She's actually hoping for a little sister," she explained. "You know actually could I…could I ask you something? About when I was a teenager?" She asked rather hesitantly, unsure if this was something she could discuss with her mother.

"Of course," Elizabeth said, placing Henry on the ground since the toddler had gotten bored and was squirming to go play with his toys. "What is it?"

"When I was Alex's age did you ever…were you ever just like completely freaked out that I was growing up too fast?" Emily asked, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. "Because Alex is only 16 but it seems like she's making all these adult decisions and I just want to keep her a kid," she ran her hand through her hair. "It's happening way too fast and I'm not really sure if maybe I'm just being irrational. I mean Jen doesn't seem to be as freaked out as I am."

"Well your irrationality could stem from the fact that you gave birth to Alex, whereas Jennifer did not," Elizabeth suggested. "As far as when you were a teenager," she paused, thinking. "I wish I had a better answer for you but I'm afraid when you were 16 I had already lost you. You grew up when I wasn't paying attention and you wanted very little to do with me," she explained, a sad look falling over her features before she quickly recovered. "You haven't lost Alexandra though. She loves you very much. And she still needs you."

With a small, rather sad smile, Emily thought back to her teenager years; to the times when all she did was rebel again her parents. "You know Mom," she reached out for the older brunette's hand. "You haven't lost me either. I still need you."

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It was later that night, after a dinner filled with plenty of laughter and chatter that JJ and Emily curled up together on the sofa, simply enjoying the quiet together on the couch, while Henry slept peacefully upstairs. Alex, whose friends had left before dinner, was making her way down the hallway, having been on the phone with Spencer in the game room.

"Hey kid, come here," Emily called, looking over the back of the couch.

"What's up?" Alex asked, taking a seat next to JJ, who immediately placed a hand on her back.

"Well Mum and I wanted to tell you that we're making an appointment to start talking about IVF for our anniversary," Emily explained, delighted as she watched Alex's face light up with a smile. "Obviously it's going to be a bit of a process and it could take quite a while before we're actually able to get pregnant, but we wanted you to know that we're taking the first step."

"That's awesome," Alex grinned. "And did you guys decide who was going to…you know…who's going to actually have the baby."

"There's still a few details we're debating but Mom is going to carry the baby," JJ was the one to reply, taking Emily's hand in hers.

"I'm really glad Mom," Alex was still smiling. "I'm really happy for you guys. I'm happy for all of us."

"So are we," JJ agreed, wrapping her arm around the teen, and pulling her down so she was leaning against her side.

For several minutes the room was silent, the three females simply sitting together, happily enjoying the moment until Alex finally broke the silence, unable to take it any longer. "I know you know," she said rather quietly, sitting forward so she could see Emily who was sitting on JJ's other side. "I saw the way you looked at me last night. I know you know. And if you know, then that means she told you," she looked at JJ. "You both know."

"Alex…" Emily's heart was beating fast, suddenly nervous that her daughter was going to confirm what she did indeed already know. "What…what do we know?"

"That I…That Spencer and I had sex," Alex admitted, casting her eyes downward, feeling her cheeks flaring. "Are you mad?" She asked when no one said anything, still too nervous to look up.

"Oh honey, I'm not mad," Emily leaned forward too so she was now reaching across JJ, placing a hand on her daughter's knee, effectively making the teen look up. "Maybe a little sad…but definitely not mad."

"Sad?" Alex was raised her eyebrow, not quite understanding.

"You're just…you're growing up so fast," Emily explained, a sad smile on her face. "And while I knew this day would come…while I expected that it was closer than I wanted it to be, it still scares me a little," she sighed. "It still makes me feel like I'm losing you."

"You're not losing me," Alex was quick to argue, standing up and moving so she was sitting between both her Mothers. "You guys aren't losing me! Not at all! I may be growing up but…but I still need you guys. I probably need you guys more now than ever," she said, sounding slightly frantic, looking from one Mother to the other. "Yesterday was a pretty big deal and I know I promised you guys I would talk to you but I got a little scared."

"That's understandable," JJ nodded, running her hand over the teen's hair. "But you can always talk to us. You can talk to us now," she said, watching as Alex bit her lip nervously, obviously unsure where to start. "You and Spencer decided that you were ready to take this step together?" She decided to ask, wanting to make sure the teen hadn't been pressured into doing something she wasn't ready for.

"Yes. Most definitely yes," Alex replied, sitting back against the couch, both her Mothers watching her carefully. "We've been talking about it a lot lately, but I wasn't ready and Spencer understood that," she explained. "But I just…I love her so much," she blushed. "I love her and I didn't want to wait anymore. I know I'm only 16 and I know that there's a chance Spencer and I aren't going to be together forever but I wanted her to be my first. It wasn't just about sex we just…I love her," she repeated, shrugging her shoulders, not knowing what else to say. "I don't want you guys to think I did this for the wrong reasons. I don't want you to think I made the wrong choice."

"We don't think that Honey," Emily was the one to reply, slightly surprised by her own words even though she meant them. "As much as I would love to keep you young forever, it sounds to me that you made a mature decision and that you and Spencer didn't rush into anything," she said. "I mean you two have been together for a pretty long time and it's good that you both talked about it before you did anything."

"And we love Spencer Babe," JJ added with a reassuring smile. "We couldn't be happier that you found someone like her. This whole thing is probably going to take a little while for us to get used to," she said looking to Emily who nodded her agreement.

"But we are going to try and be understanding about it," Emily said, knowing that was going to be something she was going to have to make an effort to do. "And we will continue to love you and Spencer just as much as we always have."

"Thanks," Alex smiled, allowing Emily to pull her into a hug before leaning back against JJ, the blonde once again wrapping her arm around her shoulders. "I know I don't know what's going to happen with me and Spencer down the line but I like to think that we're a lot like you guys…you know best friends who fell for each other."

"You two have always reminded me of me and your Mom," JJ nodded. "There are a lot of similarities."

"Yeah," Alex agreed, as Emily moved so she was sitting closer to her, reaching out and taking her hand. "I hope we'll be as happy as you guys are. I hope we have a relationship just like yours."


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello! I'm trying really hard to get this story moving to where I want it to be as I'm afraid that it's been a little slow! Thanks to everyone who's still reading! -J**

 **Chapter 11**

It was hot. With the Texas sun burning on the back of her neck, Emily was struggling to keep her mind focused as she felt the sweat beginning to drip down her back.

"Prentiss…Yo Prentiss," Morgan attempted to get the brunette's attention from where he stood on the other side of their newest victim, doing his best to block his nose against the smell that had already developed due to the rising temperatures. "Emily!" He finally startled the Agent, who clearly jumped as her eyes refocused and she turned to her partner.

"Sorry. What?" Emily shook her head in attempt to clear the thoughts that she was so obviously lost in. "What'd you say?"

"I said it's going to be hard to get an accurate time of death," Morgan told her, gesturing towards the rotting corpse in front of them. "We really can't be sure when the unsub did this, but it definitely looks like the same guy. She's got the same marks on her wrists and I'm willing to bet she was strangled. We'll have to wait for the M.E to know for sure though," he explained. "You okay? You seem a little out of it."

"It's this damn heat," Emily groaned, wiping the back of her neck. "I don't know how anyone can concentrate out here," she complained, moving away from the body and towards the SUV attempting to use the vehicle to block out the sun.

"Yeah well we're in Texas in the middle of a heat-wave," Morgan replied, grabbing two bottles of water out of a cooler in the car and handing one to Emily. "Not much we can do about it, but you better drink that. I don't wanna have to deal with JJ's wrath if you get dehydrated and pass out on me."

"Nice to see you're still scared of my wife," Emily chuckled, taking a long drink of her water.

"Hey I'm smart enough to know not to mess with JJ," Morgan laughed, taking a drink of his own. "I've seen her shoot."

"Very true," Emily nodded, her attention once again falling to the young woman who lay in the dirt, left dead for someone to find her. "You think we're gonna find this guy before he kills someone else?"

"Hard to say," Morgan shrugged. "I mean we don't have much, but we've caught guys on less," he pointed out. "I mean we've got Reid and Penelope Garcia on our team. Not much gets passed those two."

"Good point," Emily smiled, knowing he was right. "So do you think we've gotta stick around here till they move her? Because I don't know about you, but I would love to get out of this sun."

"I think we've gotten everything we need here," Morgan nodded, opening up the passenger side door for Emily. "Let's go tell the guys what we've found and soak up some AC while we're at it."

"That sounds great," Emily sighed, pointing the car's air vents towards her, desperate to cool down. "Absolutely perfect."

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"Reid, Hotch wants to know if you and Garcia have narrowed down the geographical profile at all," JJ walked into the conference room where Reid had been working in constant contact with their technical analyst. "Emily and Morgan are one their way back. He wants to deliver the profile as soon as we can."

"I think I've narrowed his hunting ground down to this area," Reid replied, pointing to the area he had blocked out on their map. "I'm ready to present whenever you are. Oh and I have Garcia doing a search for any recently released convicts in the area," he explained. "Dave and I discussed the possibility of our unsub spending time in jail. I think it's a good place to start."

"I'll let Hotch know," JJ nodded, heading back out into the bullpen just as Emily and Morgan walked in, both red faced and sweaty. "Looks like you two had a good time. It's hot huh?" She couldn't help but tease, knowing how much the heat was driving Emily crazy.

"Don't even get her started," Morgan rolled his eye, putting an arm around the brunette who was simply glaring at her wife. "You holding a press conference? The reporters are starting to gather."

"I'm going out as soon as you all present the profile," JJ nodded, glad she had opted for the lightest blazer she had, knowing she couldn't go out in just a t-shirt. "Hotch was waiting to hear what you two found."

"I'll go talk to him," Morgan replied, heading for where he knew Hotch was working with Rossi.

"You're looking good Em," JJ smirked as she turned towards her wife who was pulling her hair up into a ponytail, desperate to get the hair off the back of her neck.

"I hate this heat," Emily pouted. "Seriously how do people live here? This is ridiculous," she said, checking her phone for any messages. "Have you heard from Lex? Did she get her school shopping done?"

"She went with Spencer yesterday," JJ replied, perching herself on the edge of a nearby desk. "They're planning on enjoying their last weekend of freedom by the pool with the girls. I know it sounds lame but I really hope we make it home by Monday. I'd really like to see her off on her first day."

"So would I but I'm not getting my hopes up," Emily was grumpy, crossing her arms over her chest. "And I'm pretty sure she would rather we didn't make it back."

"That's probably true," JJ agreed. "But I really don't care. I want to make her breakfast and take pictures by the door and give her the true embarrassing parents experience she deserves," she said making Emily laugh.

"I love the way you think," Emily grinned, resisting the urge to lean in for a kiss, reminding herself they were at work and surrounded by officers. "You ready to handle the vultures out there?" She asked, gesturing towards the front of the precinct where the reporters were all waiting, the crowd growing.

"I'm always ready," JJ winked grabbing her notes for the conference. "Although the list of nicknames the press has already given this unsub is already like a half a page long. Hotch wants me to put on stopper on all of that, which is always a blast," she explained. "It's nothing I can't handle though."

"Of course not," Emily grinned, before she was struck with a thought. "Oh I forgot to tell you I heard from my Mom when I was with Morgan," she explained. "She talked to that fertility specialist she told us about and she managed to get her to squeeze us in next week."

"Next week? Really? That fast?" JJ was surprised, having expected to wait much longer for an appointment.

"Friday afternoon," Emily nodded. "Apparently being Elizabeth Prentiss has its perks. I figured we'd as Hotch for a half day?"

"Yeah for sure. Wow," JJ said, a smile on her face. "I can't believe we're actually going to get to do this right before our anniversary. I mean does it get any better?"

"You know what? I don't think it does," Emily couldn't help but grin. "But let's wait till we see this doctor before we get our hopes up too much alright?"

"Okay," JJ nodded just as Rossi came out from where he and Hotch had been working.

"JJ we're ready for the profile. Can you gather everyone together?" Rossi asked.

"I'm on it," JJ replied; gathering up her papers, ready to go. "Time to catch a killer Agent Prentiss."

"Let's do this Agent Jareau," Emily smirked. "I'm ready to go home."

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It was pure bliss. With her girlfriend straddling her waist, their lips completely locked together while hands continuously roamed each other's bodies, Alex could barely focus; her mind in overdrive as she sought out a release she felt she could become addicted to. Suddenly wanting to take control, the shorter brunette moved quickly, flipping them so she was on top of a rather surprised looking Spencer.

"Lex wait…Lex…" Spencer was suddenly pushing at Alex's shoulders, turning her head to the side to avoid her kisses. "Wait…Maybe we shouldn't do this here."

"What?" Alex struggled to get control of her breathing. "Why would we…why wouldn't we…why?"

"What if your parents come home?" Spencer bit her lip nervously, her hands absentmindedly rubbing up and down Alex's bare thighs; the couple both only clad in their underwear.

"My parents are in Texas," Alex replied, sitting up, but remaining on top of her girlfriend. "I talked to my Mom like an hour ago. There's no way they're showing up here anytime soon."

"Well Jessie and Henry then," Spencer said.

"Left for a walk 15 minutes ago. They'll be gone for a while, Jessie likes to go for like an hour so Henry can nap," Alex tried to reason. "And we've got like 2 hours before Zoey and Liv show up. This is the last bit of alone time we're going to get this summer," she pointed out. "What's going on?"

"I just don't know if we should be doing this here," Spencer replied, realizing she needed to elaborate when she noticed the confused look on Alex's face. "I don't know if we should be doing this here at your house. Your Moms had pretty clear rules about us being alone and we're definitely breaking them. I feel guilty."

"My Moms know we've had sex Spencer," Alex sighed. "And I'm pretty certain they know we've had sex on more than one occasion."

"Trust me I know," Spencer replied, looking a little crestfallen as she looked away from Alex.

"What does that mean?" Alex asked, finally moving herself off of Spencer, sitting on the bed beside her. "What's going on?"

"I think your Mom hates me," Spencer sounded devastated, turning back towards her girlfriend with sad eyes. "She's been treating me different all week. I mean she hardly talks to me and she barely even looks at me when I'm over," she explained. "It's like I've totally disappointed her and I hate that because I love your Mom…I love both your Moms, but Emily and I have always had this I don't know," she shrugged. "She gets me and she understands what my parents are like but now I've ruined everything. I took your virginity and she hates me."

"Spence," Alex tried not to laugh, leaning down and placing a kiss on the brunette's forehead. "My Mother does not hate you. She couldn't possibly hate you, it's impossible," she said, lying down so they were both facing each other. "She's just freaked out right now and she doesn't know how to handle it. She loves you Spencer. Don't doubt that. She's going to come around."

"I just want to be able to talk to her like before," Spencer said, finally cracking a smile when Alex placed a kiss on her nose. "I don't want this," she squeezed Alex's hip, "to ruin everything with your Moms."

"It won't," Alex shook her head. "I won't let it," she added, leaning in for a kiss, allowing Spencer to dictate the pace, smiling with the taller brunette eventually moaned into her mouth before pulling away. "So are we going to continue where we left off? Because I don't know how you can expect me to stop when you're half naked in my bed," she grinned, Spencer rolling her eyes as she pressed her lips to Alex's, rolling on top of her in reply.

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"All right girlies, it's your last night before your Junior year," Emily announced Sunday night, gather around the dinner table with JJ, Henry, Alex, Spencer, Zoey and Olivia. "So I would like to propose a toast."

"Aw Mom," Alex hid her face in embarrassment.

"Here's to a great year filled with friends, family, love and hopefully some learning," Emily said, holding up a glass of wine while the rest of the table joined her.

"Here, here," Olivia chimed in, while the rest of the girls said their cheers, everyone clinking glasses before returning them to the table.

"You're so embarrassing sometimes," Alex groaned, her cheeks pink.

"It's part of the job. Now dig in everyone. I think Jennifer ordered enough pizza for an army," Emily told everyone as they all began picking from their favourite pizza trays. "I can't believe we actually made it home for this. I thought for sure we were going to miss your first day."

"You sure didn't sound like you were going to be home anytime soon when we talked last night," Alex agreed, taking a bite of her pizza. "What happened?"

"Killer got caught trying to dump a body by one of our patrols," JJ replied, cutting up some food for Henry. "So basically we just got really lucky."

"And thank God for that too because I could not take the heat anymore," Emily laughed, grateful to be home where the heat wasn't quite as intense and she was able to enjoy her cozy, air-conditioned home. "I hate Texas."

"Surely you've been to hotter places than Texas," Spencer said from where she sat across the table, beside Alex. "I mean you've been all over."

"I guess," Emily shrugged, not looking at the brunette. "Olivia can you pass the chicken wings please Sweetie?" She asked, Alex watching as Spencer's face fell in disappointment.

Knowing she needed to say something to her Mom, Alex gave it until after everyone had finished eating before sending the girls to wait for her in the family room with JJ, while she and Emily started to clean up.

"Hey Mom could I talk to you about something?" Alex asked as they were loading the dishwasher.

"I figured you wanted to talk about something," Emily nodded. "You don't normally volunteer to help with cleanup when your friends are here. What's up?"

"Look I get that you're still kind of freaked out about the whole sex thing. I really didn't expect that to just disappear overnight," Alex began, handing Emily a plate. "And honestly you've been fine with me, but Mom you've got to let Spencer off the hook here."

"Spencer? What are you talking about?" Emily replied, avoiding her daughter's eye.

"Spencer has an awful relationship with her parents. I know you know that," Alex began. "She can't talk to her parents about anything, which is why her relationship with you and Mum is so important to her, but you've been blowing her off all week," she said, continuing before Emily could interrupt. "She thinks you hate her. And I get it okay. I'm your little girl, but Spencer needs you too Mom. She needs you in her life and she needs you to just understand right now. You told me that you and Mum would keep loving me and Spence the way you always have, but I really don't think she's feeling that right now."

Still unable to look at her daughter, Emily immediately felt guilty, knowing the teen was right, but unsure how to correct the behaviour. "Mom?" Alex eventually forced the older brunette to look at her. "Will you please talk to her? For me?"

"Of course I will," Emily placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead, unable to deny her. "I'm sorry sweetheart."

"Just go make it better," Alex smirked, pushing her Mother out of the kitchen before returning to finish cleanup on her own.

"Spencer?" Emily called when she rounded the corner into the family room where everyone was chatting about school. "Could I talk to you for a minute Honey?"

"Sure," Spencer nodded, looking slightly nervous as she followed the older brunette down the hall and into the game room where Emily shut the door behind them. "What's going on?" She asked, taking a seat on the couch where Emily gestured for her to join her.

"I owe you an apology," Emily sighed, immediately reaching out and taking the teenager's hand in hers. "I haven't been fair to you this week and I'm sorry," feeling even guiltier at the sad look on Spencer's face. "Realizing that Alex is growing up so quickly has been really difficult for me and I'm afraid I've taken that out on you. I love you so much sweetheart and I should have done better to make sure you knew that."

"I get it," Spencer shrugged. "I just…it has been really hard not being able to talk to you. I really don't want you to be mad at me," she explained. "I love Alex so much. I would never hurt her. I need you to know that."

"I do Spencer. I really do," she squeezed the teen's hand. "I trust you with my daughter's heart. Think you can forgive me for my temporary freak-out?"

"I can do that," Spencer smiled, allowing Emily to pull her in for a hug. "I've really missed you, you know."

"I've missed you too Honey," Emily replied, kissing the top of Spencer's head. "Now how about we go back out there and challenge everyone to some Pictionary? I bet we can kick everybody's butts."


	12. Chapter 12

**Honestly, I'm not all that happy with this chapter. I'm struggling with this story, but I don't want to give it up! Thanks to everyone who's still reading! -J**

 **Chapter 12**

It was a click and a flash that woke Alex Monday morning, the teen squinting open her eyes in confusion only to find both her Mothers standing over her bed with matching smiles on their faces.

"Happy first day!" They both beamed, JJ throwing a handful of confetti into the air over Alex while Emily took another picture.

"Oh my God," Alex groaned, pulling her pillow over her head. "You guys are crazy," her voice was now muffled. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because we love you," Emily laughed sitting on the bed and bouncing a bit in order to get the teen up. "And we're just so excited for your first day of the 11th grade!"

"Plus it's our job to embarrass you," JJ added with a laugh, while Emily began poking Alex's sides.

"Moooooom, stop," Alex whined, throwing the pillow off her head as she tried to get away from her Mother, her whining eventually turning to laughter. "Okay I'm up!" She huffed, sitting up and crossing her arms over her chest. "You two are ridiculous you know that? I'm gonna warn Henry to lock his door the night before his first day of school."

"You will do no such thing," Emily leaned forward placing a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Plus we only torture you because we love you. No come on. Get up and put your uniform on Mummy wants to make you breakfast," she said, grabbing both of Alex's hands and pulling her up.

"Alright, alright, I'm moving," Alex rolled her eyes as Emily pushed her towards her closet. "I'll be down in half an hour."

"You better be or we'll be back up here and we'll be way worse then we are now," JJ laughed, giving the teen a playful shove before grabbing Emily's hand and heading out towards the hallway. "You want to see if Henry's up while I go get breakfast started?" She asked as she pulled the bedroom door closed behind her.

"You got it Mrs. Prentiss," Emily gave JJ a kiss before heading for Henry's room while the blonde went down to the kitchen.

It was exactly 30 minutes later when Alex arrived downstairs, dropping her backpack by the front door before making her way to the dining room; her long brown hair perfectly curled, her make up done and her uniform looking clean and crisp.

"Did your skirt get shorter?" Emily raised an eyebrow at the teenager as she cut up a pancake for Henry and placed it on the tray in front of him. "I don't remember it looking like that last year."

"I don't know if you've noticed but I get my height from you," Alex replied placing a kiss on Henry's head before taking a seat. "I grew like 3 inches this summer. I didn't really think about letting the hem down. Does it look bad?"

"Leave it in our room tonight, I'll fix it for you," JJ told her. "For today, maybe just pull it down a little. You have shorts on underneath don't you?"

"Yes," Alex laughed. "Don't worry I'll make sure I don't bend over to pick anything up or whatever," she said, receiving a stern look from Emily, who obviously wasn't impressed. "Thanks for the pancakes Mum," she decided to change the subject, stuffing her mouth. "They're really good."

"Glad you like them babe," JJ smiled as they all began to eat. "Do you have anything going on after school this week? Or is it too early in the year for that?"

"Soccer practice starts tomorrow and I've got the paper today so I won't be home until after 4. Melissa is going to pick me and Spencer up since Spence has student council," Alex explained. "Which reminds me, will one of you bring me to get my learners permit this weekend? I know it's your anniversary weekend and everything but it's been so busy since my birthday and I was really hoping to go soon."

"Of course!" Emily was quick to reply. "I will take you! Of course I'll take you. Why didn't you ask sooner honey? I should have thought to take you earlier!"

"It's alright Mom," Alex laughed. "I didn't really care much this summer, but I don't know," she shrugged. "The other girls all have theirs so it's probably about time," she blushed. "I studied and everything."

"Okay," Emily grinned, obviously excited to get to experience this milestone with her daughter. "I'll take you Saturday morning then just as long as…."

"You don't get a case," Alex finished for her, finishing the last of her pancakes. "I know the drill," she stood up. "I'm gonna be late for the bus. Thanks for breakfast Mum," she gave JJ a kiss before giving both Henry and Emily one. "I'll see you guys tonight! Love yous!"

"Love you too," Emily and JJ replied at the same time, watching as the teen ran to pull on her shoes, grabbing her backpack before heading out the door.

"Well another first day down," JJ smiled at the excited look that Emily still had on her face. "And looks like we may have another driver in the family soon. You think your ready for that Mom?"

"I think that I'm going to teach my kid to drive," Emily grinned, obviously excited. "I can't wait."

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"Yo Princess, Blondie it's about time you two showed up," Morgan called out as soon as Emily and JJ entered the bullpen later that morning. "I never beat you two here. Where the hell have you been?"

"First day of school," JJ replied, squeezing Emily's hand before heading towards her office, knowing she would have a pile of cases to sort through waiting for her. "We cleared it with Hotch to come in late. We had to get in our embarrassing Mothers fill for the week," she grinned. "You'll probably never beat us in again so don't get too used to it," she said before making her way into the office.

"Especially when Jen's in charge of when we leave in the morning," Emily smiled, putting her stuff down before taking a seat in her chair and turning on her computer. "So what do you think? Paperwork day?" She asked her partner.

"Actually Hotch said he wanted to talk to us when you got here," Morgan replied. "Something about needing Agents to run some drills in Hogan's Alley for the recruits," he shrugged. "He figured the two of us might get a kick out of it. Although personally I think Pretty Boy should do it," he teased, wadding up a piece of paper into a ball and throwing it at Reid who was already engrossed in a case file.

"I never passed my training in Hogan's Alley," Reid shook his head, impressing Morgan with his ability to pay attention to the conversation going on around him while still working. "But you already know that since you know they made an exception to allow me into the field. Obviously I wouldn't be a sufficient trainer."

"Trust me I know," Morgan rolled his eyes, as Reid simply continued his reading. "So what do you think Princess? You feel like running some drills with me or what?"

"I'd love to," Emily nodded with a smile. "But just remember I am not going to spend the entire time trying to scare the recruits with you. The point is to help them do their job, not scare them out of it."

"Yeah, yeah," Morgan shook his head. "Come on, let's go talk to the boss."

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With a new assignment that left both Morgan and Emily feeling giddy with excitement, the two Agents were given permission to go do some training of their own in order to plan the exercises they were going to use when they began working with the recruits the following week. While Hotch knew his Agents would be professional when they actually set to work, he also knew allowing them some time to train on their own would provide them a chance to relax and maybe even have some fun for a change.

So with Morgan and Emily out of the office, the rest of the team caught up on paperwork while Garcia worked on searches for another team and JJ fielded calls for most of the day.

It wasn't until late afternoon that JJ decided to stretch her legs, heading down to Garcia's lair since her wife was absent.

"Hey Pen, mind some company for a while?" JJ poked her head in the office as she knocked lightly on the doorframe, surprising the Technical Analyst who immediately shut down the game she had been playing rather than working. "Busted," JJ laughed, plopping down in one of the desk chairs. "Looks like your working hard there buddy."

"To my defense I've got searches running in the background," Garcia blushed. "I can't help that it's a slow day and my Chocolate Thunder is off playing with your Princess Charming for the day. Have you heard from her at all? Are they having a good time?"

"I haven't talked to Em at all but you know her and Morgan," JJ shook her head. "They're probably running around like little kids in a toy store."

"Probably," Garcia nodded just as JJ's phone dinged, signaling that she had a text. "Oh I bet that's her now!" She watched as JJ read the message furrowing her brow. "Something wrong?"

"It's Alex," JJ began typing back a reply. "Melissa Hastings was supposed to pick her and Spencer up from school today but she wants me to instead. Just seems weird."

"Do you think something's wrong?" Garcia asked, seeing the worry on her best friend's face. "You don't think her and Spencer had a fight do you? Because those two are just so perfect together! I would really hate if they broke up! I mean they're high school sweethearts and so in love and…"

"Garcia relax," JJ couldn't help but laugh. "I don't think that's it," she assured her. "But I do think that Alex comes to me when she's in trouble. And she says I need to come inside when I pick her up," she sighed. "I better call Em."

"You're going to tell on the kid?" Garcia was slightly surprised, knowing how protective JJ was over Alex. "That doesn't sound like the Mama J I know."

"Yeah, well I'm not going to let her take the easy way out of whatever it is she did this time," JJ rolled her eyes as she scrolled through her contacts in order to get a hold of her wife.

"Why do you automatically assume she did something wrong?" Garcia raised an eyebrow in question.

"Because," JJ sighed, listening to the sound of the phone ringing against her ear. "Trouble seems to follow Alex around now-a-days. She is Emily's daughter after all."

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Detention. It was the first day of her Junior year of high school and Alex managed to get herself a detention; a feat, which thoroughly impressed Olivia who made it through the day detention-free. As some sort of added punishment Alex was informed that she would need a parent or guardian to sign her out of detention, the teen suddenly wishing her Mothers had gotten called away on a case so she would only have to deal with Jessie.

"Mom!" Alex was surprised when she looked up from where she was sitting in the main office to find Emily walking towards her with a stern look on her face. "I thought Mum was coming to get me."

"Well your Mum and I take the same car to work Darling," Emily pointed out, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "She's waiting in the car for us. Now would you like to tell me why you needed Mum to pick you up and come inside to get you? I thought you had the paper after school today."

"I missed paper today," Alex hung her head in shame. "I needed Mum…I needed one of you to come in and get me because I needed someone to sign me out of detention," she refused to meet her Mother's eyes. "Which if you ask me is such a stupid rule because seriously not all parents or guardians are available at the drop of the hat. Like what were they going to do if I couldn't get someone to pick me up? Keep me here forever?" She finally looked up to find a less than impressed look on her Mother's face. "I'm sorry okay?"

"Alexandra Emily Campbell Jareau-Prentiss, it is the first day of school," Emily kept her voice low, her even tone scaring Alex more than if she was yelling. "What in the world did you do to land yourself in detention already?"

"Mom I swear it wasn't even fair," Alex immediately began to defend herself. "It wasn't even a big deal and it got completely blown out of proportion and I…"

"Alex," Emily interrupted in the same, even tone. "Explain. Now."

"I caught some creep trying to look up my skirt," Alex blurted out, surprising Emily, who hadn't been expecting the answer.

"Excuse me?" Emily felt her anger dissipate, immediately replaced with confusion. "I don't understand how that got you put in detention."

"I was trying to get something out of my locker, and I don't know I guess I was leaning in or something and well my skirt isn't exactly long so when I turned around I found some pervy senior guy standing there clearly trying to look up my skirt," Alex explained in a rush. "And even though I knew I was wearing shorts I was pissed so I went across the hall and told him he was a jackass and I shoved him," she rolled her eyes. "I mean I _barely_ shoved him, but Mr. Price walked out at that exact moment and gave me detention. He wouldn't even let me explain."

"Well did you try to talk to the principal?" Emily asked, knowing Dean Hackett was likely to listen to Alex.

"I didn't really see the point," Alex shrugged. "I mean it's just a detention and technically I shouldn't have pushed the guy, but seriously he deserved it."

"Sounds like it," Emily chuckled, putting an arm around the teen, who led her towards where she was needed to sign out. "Now you wanna tell me why you wanted your Mum to come get you and not me?"

"Honestly?" Alex raised her eyebrow as Emily finished signing her out. "Mum tends to react to things a lot more rationally than you do," she explained, Emily stopping in her tracks and staring at her daughter with an _are you kidding me_ look on her face. "You were mad when you came in here," the teen continued. "You were even more mad when I told you I got detention, which is exactly what I thought would happen. Mum wouldn't have gotten mad. She's just a lot calmer than you…she's a lot calmer than both of us," she laughed.

"Alright you got me there," Emily couldn't help but laugh, knowing the teen got her rather short temper from her, though Alex seemed more capable of remaining composed than Emily was at her age. "Does Spencer need a ride home?"

"No she went with Melissa," Alex shook her head. "I wasn't really crazy about the idea of her being there while I got grounded," she sounded disappointed, knowing a grounding would mean no going to get her learners permit; would mean a ruined day that she was supposed to spend with her Mother.

"You know what," Emily stopped the teen as they walked outside. "I think we can forgo the grounding on this one," she couldn't help but smile at the surprised look on the teen's face.

"Are you serious?" Alex had to ask.

"I'm serious," Emily nodded. "Because honestly? I would have shoved that kid too," she laughed, once again wrapping her arm around the teen. "Now come on trouble. Let's go home."


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm ready for another Prentiss-Jareau baby so let's get this moving why don't we!**

 **Thanks for sticking with me! -J**

 **Chapter 13**

"Em, you need to calm down," JJ placed a hand on her wife's knee, trying to stop the constant shaking. "We're just here to talk remember. No pressure. We'll listen to what the doctor says and then we'll make a plan."

"I know," Emily took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. "I just…this all just got very real," she said, her cheeks reddening as she began to pick at her nails, another nervous habit. "I just really want to have another baby with you. I'm afraid it will be more difficult than we anticipated."

"Em we both know that this might take a few tries," JJ grabbed the brunette's hands before she could do too much damage. "But you never know what will happen," she squeezed the hands in hers. "We can handle this. Together. We are going to have another baby, Emily Prentiss. Don't be afraid of that."

"Okay," Emily managed a small smile. "Thank you…I…I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm freaking out so much."

"Don't worry about it," JJ laughed. "I'm kind of freaking out too," she admitted just as the Doctor walked in.

"Good morning ladies, sorry to keep you waiting," the clearly young blonde apologized as she took a seat behind her desk. "I'm Dr. Alexander you must be Emily and Jennifer," she smiled. "I've just been going over your file here," she referred to the papers the couple had filled out while they were waiting. "You have two children between you and are looking to expand your family using IVF with an anonymous donor."

"That's right," JJ nodded. "We wanted to meet with you to find out how to get started."

"And to make sure that this is a possibility obviously," Emily added. "I mean we've done the research. We both know that this course of action doesn't work for everyone."

"You're right," Dr. Alexander nodded. "However I don't see any risk factors present in your forms. Have you decided which one of you will carry the baby?"

"Emily's going to carry the baby," JJ was the one to reply, turning to the other woman with a smile, reaching out and taking her hand.

"And are you planning on using your eggs Emily or Jennifer's?" Dr. Alexander asked.

"That's actually something we've been talking about quite a bit," Emily told her. "We each have a biological child, and honestly neither one of us really care about that, but since we couldn't decide whose baby I should have we were hoping to leave it up to fate," she explained. "We wanted to implant an egg from each of us since we know that implanting multiple eggs means for a better chance of a successful pregnancy anyways. Is that a possibility?"

"Of course," Dr. Alexander nodded, writing something down in their file. "That's actually a fairly common course of action, but I am obligated to remind you that with multiple implantations the chance of giving birth to multiples increases," she told them. "Some couples tend to forget that detail."

"We know," JJ smiled. "And we're prepared no matter what happens. We just really want to have another baby.'

"Alright then," Dr. Alexander looked up with a big smile on her face. "Let's get started."

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"Okay let me get this straight," Alex sat down on the couch with her Mother's later that night, having decided to skip her weekly sleepover with the girls since she and Emily were going for her learner's permit the next morning, Henry playing with his blocks on the carpet in front of them. "You have a book of dudes that you're going to use to choose the father of the baby from?" She looked at them as if the idea was crazy. "You're basically shopping for a baby daddy?"

"These men have all donated sperm," Emily explained, gesturing to the book they had been given from the clinic, ignoring the teen's wrinkled nose. "We can see a picture and read some small details about them and then yes we choose one to be our 'Baby Daddy'," she rolled her eyes. "How else did you expect this thing to work? We can't exactly have a baby without a man."

"I know," Alex shrugged. "I guess I didn't give it much thought before this. So do I get to help?"

"Sure," JJ laughed as Alex moved closer to Emily who was sitting in the middle with the book of potential donors on her lap.

"And what exactly are we looking for?" Alex asked. "I mean we don't technically know whose baby you're going to have so it's not like we can choose a guy with one of your features so that the baby possibly looks like both of you," she bit her lip, obviously thinking. "How do you even pick a guy?"

"Honestly?" Emily raised an eyebrow. "We don't really know," she chuckled. "We just kind of figured we'd read through the details and see if anyone stood out."

"Then I guess we better get reading," Alex said, the trio opening up the book and looking at the first candidate.

Over an hour later, Henry now slept on JJ's lap, the three females having narrowed down their choices to three men.

"I like this guy," Alex held up one of the pages. "He's a professor, so he's obviously smart, he does a lot of volunteering and donates to charities and look at him," she pointed. "He has great bone structure. And those eyes; so blue! They're actually a lot like Mum's."

"She's got a point there," JJ agreed, cradling Henry to her chest. "But I still like the guy who works for Doctor's without Borders," she added. "And I really think we need to rule that third guy out. He looks way too much like Reid. It's really freaking me out."

Looking at the picture of the man in question, Emily considered this for a moment, shuddering as she saw what the blonde meant. "You're right. That's weird," she put the picture back into the booklet. "So then we're down to two. A professor or a doctor," she fell silent for a moment. "Both obviously intelligent, and they both give back to others, which is a wonderful trait," she continued. "So then how do we decide?"

"I still vote for Professor Blue Eyes," Alex once again pointed out her original choice. "If the baby ends up being Moms then maybe he or she will get the donor's eyes and it will be like they got something from Mum too," she reasoned.

"What do you think Em? Honestly?" JJ asked, rubbing Henry's back as she turned to her wife.

"I think this is a lot harder then I thought it was going to be," Emily sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I don't think I can just pick a guy like this. Can we sleep on it?"

"Of course we can," JJ smiled, completely understanding. "I'm gonna take this little guy upstairs, why don't you two pick out a movie. We can quiz Alex while we watch."

"Sounds perfect," Emily grinned as Alex headed straight for the movie selection, unwilling to allow Emily to choose for them.

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Patience was not one of Emily's strengths. As the brunette waited for Alex to take her learner's permit test her leg was once again bouncing up and down, anxious about what would happen if Alex failed, while also nervous for what it would mean if she passed.

While she knew she had to accept that her little girl was growing up, Emily couldn't help dreading the fact that it was passing so quickly. As much as she loved the idea of being able to teach her kid how to drive, she also couldn't help feeling sad, knowing that being able to drive would mean that the teen was likely to spend even more time away from her.

"Mom!" Alex called, coming out of the test room with a big smile on her face, paper in hand! "Mom I passed!"

"Oh honey congratulations!" Emily was out of her seat, immediately wrapping her arms around the teen. "I knew you would!"

"It was a piece of cake," Alex hugged her Mother back. "This is so cool! I've gotta go get my picture done and everything and then we can go. Will you text Mum?"

"Yeah come on, I'll text her in line," Emily replied, gesturing towards the queue where Alex would get her picture taken for her I.D.

Half an hour later the two brunettes were back in Emily's car, Emily at the wheel, while Alex chatted animatedly about the test, obviously excited. "I text the girls to tell them. They want to know if we can get together for dinner tonight."

"Sure honey, you can invite them over if you like," Emily nodded. "We can order in, unless you'd rather go out. I can drive you girls wherever you like."

"Ordering in is fine," Alex smiled, typing something into her phone before looking up. "Wait what are we doing? Why are we here?" She asked as Emily pulled into an abandoned parking lot.

"Well you didn't think you were going to pass your driver's test and I wasn't going to let you drive at all did you?" Emily couldn't help but grin at the look of surprise on her daughter's face. "Figured we'd keep you out of traffic for your first time though. So you ready?"

"Seriously?" Alex had to ask. "I mean really? You're actually going to let me drive?"

"Yeah of course!" Emily replied enthusiastically, putting the car in park and getting out, coming around and opening Alex's door. "You've got to learn some time. Might as well start now. Get going."

Not needing to be told twice, Alex unbuckled her belt before jumping out of the car, running around and getting in the driver's seat with a look of excitement on her face. "This is so cool," the teen couldn't contain her happiness.

"Okay, adjust your seat and make sure you can see out of your mirror," Emily told her. "And whenever you're ready put your foot on the brake and put the car into drive. We'll just take it around slowly so you can get the feel of the car."

Taking a deep breath, Alex was obviously bracing herself, getting her nerves under control before starting. "Hey Mom," she turned to the older brunette before touching anything else. "This is a pretty big deal for you isn't it? I mean like doing this with me?"

"Yeah kid," Emily smiled emotionally. "It's a pretty big deal."

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"So how'd she do?" JJ asked as soon as Emily and Alex returned home later that day, the teen with a big smile on her face.

"She did great," Emily had an identical grin on her face. "She's a natural actually."

"Mom says she'll take me on actual roads next week," Alex added, sounding rather proud of herself as she accepted a hug from JJ. "I can't believe I actually drove a car today. It's so cool. I'm actually so excited."

"Well apparently so are your friends," JJ laughed, gesturing to the family room where Olivia, Zoey and Spencer were all waiting with Henry. "They just couldn't wait to see you," she said as the teen ran off to greet her friends. "So Mama Prentiss we've got a teen driver in the family. How you doing with that?"

"Better than I thought I would actually," Emily smiled as JJ wrapped her arms around her waist. "It was nice getting to teach her something like this. I feel like I'm finally getting to witness some real milestones with Lex. I mean we got to celebrate her sweet 16 and now we get to teach her to drive. It's kind of exciting."

"I'm glad you're getting to experience all this with her Em," JJ kissed Emily's cheek.

"Oh we're both going to get to experience it," Emily pulled back so she could see the blonde better. "Lex already asked if I thought you would take her out for a lesson too. She says she wants to practice as much as possible so you better get ready Mama Prentiss," she teased. "Plus something tells me we may have to give some extra lessons for another one," she nodded towards the family room.

"Olivia?" JJ guessed.

"Lex mentioned that her Mom hasn't really been finding any time to help her," Emily nodded. "And I know she'd never ask us to take her but I just figured we could offer," she shrugged. "I just hate that the kid doesn't get any attention from her parents."

"I know Em," JJ gave the brunette a sad smile. "To be honest sometimes I just wish we could keep her here with us. I worry about her."

"Me too," Emily agreed, looking to the living room where all four girls were chatting excitedly while Henry sat on his sister's lap. "Now come on. Let's go celebrate with our girls."

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When Emily woke in the middle of the night she wasn't really sure what had woken her up. Turning towards the clock, the brunette noted that it was just after 1am, groaning as she rolled over to face her wife, suddenly struck with a thought.

With a grin on her face, Emily moved so she was hovering over the still sleeping blonde. Leaning in, Emily placed a kiss on JJ's forehead, before placing another on each of her cheeks.

"Em?" JJ's face scrunched up, her eyes still closed.

"Happy Anniversary Baby," Emily continued her kisses along the blonde's jaw, eventually moving down towards her neck. "Happy One Year."

"Emmm," JJ groaned, refusing to open her eyes even though she moved her head in order to grant her wife better access to her neck. "Baby it's late. I'm sleeping."

"Sleep later," Emily nipped at JJ's earlobe. "It's our anniversary now."

"It will still be our anniversary in the morning," JJ pointed out, her eyes now open. "And in the morning I will be awake. Right now I want to sleep."

"I think we should go with the Professor," Emily surprised JJ, who hadn't been expecting the sudden change of topic. "Lex is right about the eyes and to be honest I don't think it matters who we pick because I just know any kid that we are going to have is going to turn out awesome," she continued, placing another kiss on JJ's nose. "I just want to have another baby with you. I want to have another baby like right now."

"Right now?" JJ couldn't help but smirk. "You do know we can't make a baby right now, don't you Em?" She asked, her amusement clear, obviously waking up as she raised her hips towards her wife's teasingly.

"I know," Emily leaned closer. "But it doesn't hurt to try."


	14. Chapter 14

**Been brainstorming ideas for this story all week! I hope you all will enjoy what I've come up with! Thanks so much for reading! -J**

 **Chapter 14**

"Okay Em, just take it easy. Careful," JJ kept a hand on Emily's arm as she helped her out of the car and towards the house. "Just take it slow."

"Jen will you please stop acting like I'm going to break," Emily sighed, rolling her eyes when the blonde wasn't looking. "I had embryos implanted in my uterus, I can still walk!"

"You heard what Dr. Alexander said Em, you need to take it easy," JJ replied, keeping her hold on Emily as they entered the house, immediately hearing the sound of Henry's little feet running down the hall. "Hey Little Man!" The blonde was the one to get down to greet their son, picking him up to see Emily since she didn't want her carrying him at the moment. "Are you being a good boy for Jessie this morning?"

"He's an angel as always," Jessie replied, coming around the corner with a few of Henry's things in her arms. "How did it go?"

"We won't really know anything for another two weeks," Emily shrugged; looking towards the stairs, ready to get back to bed, knowing rest would help give their potential baby their best chance. "Which if you ask me is way too long," she sighed. "I feel weird. Do you think that's possible?"

"I don't know Baby," JJ smiled, placing a kiss on the brunette's cheek before glancing at her watch. "Maybe I could just call Hotch and tell him I can't come in today."

"Jen," Emily, gave her wife a stern look. "We agreed we'd go about the rest of our day normally. There's nothing you can do here for me. Go to work. Concentrate on something else for a while. There's no reason both of us need to sit here and torture ourselves all day."

"And you don't need to worry JJ, Henry and I will take good care of her," Jessie assured her. "Right Henry?"

"Ma!" Henry grinned, making Emily laugh as she leaned in for a rather slopping kiss from the little blonde.

"I'll be fine Jen," Emily told JJ since she could see that she was still contemplating it. "Come on. You'll be back before you know it."

"Fine but if we get called away on a case…" JJ began to argue.

"Then you will go just like we talked about," Emily interrupted before the blonde could say anymore. "And I will work from the office tomorrow with Garcia who will make sure I'm not overexerting myself or causing myself any stress. We discussed this Jen."

"I know, but I want to change my mind," JJ pouted, giving Henry another kiss before handing him over to Jessie. "Want me to help you up to bed before I go?"

"I'll be fine Baby. Go," Emily shook her head, giving the blonde a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too Emily," JJ smiled. "You take care of those little guys in there," she placed a hand over the brunette's stomach, taking a deep breath as if to steel herself. "Okay I'm going. I'll see you later, I hope! Bye!"

"Bye Honey," Emily watched her wife go, before turning back to her Nanny and Son. "So what do you say Henry? You want to watch a movie with Mommy?" She asked with a grin, slowly making her way up the stairs. "Because Mommy can't think of any other way she'd like to spend her day."

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It was less than hour later when JJ finally exited the elevator to find herself peering down into the bullpen where Reid and Morgan were hard at work, while Rossi and Hotch could both be seen in their respective offices. Sighing, the blonde couldn't help glancing to Emily's empty desk, a smile on her face as she thought about what they had done that morning and what it could mean for their family.

"Hey there she is!" Morgan called as soon as JJ opened the door to the bullpen, deciding to say a quick hello before retreating to her own office. "How'd it go?" He asked when the blonde was close enough; the entire team aware of what the couple was doing that morning.

"Good, though we won't know anything for another two weeks," JJ shrugged, trying to keep her cool even though she felt like she was going crazy inside, full of excitement. "Em has to spend the day resting but she'll be back tomorrow. We've just got to try to keep things stress-free for the next two weeks, which should be oh so simple."

"Oh yeah no problem," Morgan chuckled. "Because this job is a total stress-free environment," he joked, watching as JJ bit her lip rather anxiously. "Jayje you know we're all here for you guys right? Whatever we can do to help you guys these next couple weeks you've got it. We're really rooting for you guys."

"Yeah I'll help out with anything Emily needs me too. Extra case files or I can even take her consults," Reid agreed, giving the blonde a comforting smile.

"Thanks guys," JJ was touched, appreciating just how much her team cared about her and Emily. "We really appreciate it, and even though I doubt she will take you up on that offer Spence, I will definitely let Emily know you offered," she smiled. "So have I missed anything exciting this morning?"

"Only Baby Girl coming down here every 20 minutes to see if you're here yet," Morgan laughed. "I'm surprised she hasn't come back yet to be honest. We're meeting in about 30 in the conference room. Hotch wanted to wait for you."

"Well I better get to my office then," JJ replied, just as Hotch quickly made his way out of his office and into Rossi's.

"Uh oh," Reid voiced JJ's thoughts as the trio watched Rossi's office anxiously.

"Damn," JJ couldn't help the dread that instantly filled her, knowing they were about to get sent away as Hotch and Rossi both exited the office. "Hotch?"

"We're needed in Denver," Hotch replied as he and Rossi made their way down to the bullpen. "I'm sorry JJ. If you want to stay back…"

"No," JJ immediately interrupted, shaking her head. "No. You guys are already down an Agent. I'm not going to leave you to deal with the press too. I just…I need to make a call."

"Tell Prentiss she's more than welcome to take another day off, but if she wants she can work with Garcia from here tomorrow," Hotch told her, briefly placing a hand on her shoulder in support. "We'll meet you in the Conference room?"

"I'll be there in a few minutes," JJ nodded, pulling out her phone as she headed towards her office. "Of course we're being called away," she muttered to herself as she hit Emily's speed dial. "Of course."

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"Hey Jessie, hi Henry," Alex called when she returned home from school later that day, her little brother running from the family room with his arms wide open. "Hey big guy! I missed you," she placed a kiss on the little blonde's cheek as Jessie watched the interaction with a smile. "Where's Mom?"

"Upstairs having a nap," Jessie replied as Henry wiggled to get down, returning to the family room where his favourite movie was playing on the television. "She was under strict orders to relax today. She fell asleep watching a movie with Henry so I decided to take him out before he woke up," she explained. "Your Mum called earlier. They got a case. She's on her way to Denver."

"Oh man Mom probably hates that," Alex replied as she put her bag down and pulled off her shoes. "And Mum's probably going to be worrying the whole time she's away," she sighed. "Has she been asleep long?"

"A few hours actually," Jessie nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised if she was already awake. You should go see her," she gestured towards the stairs. "I'll fix something up for dinner, while your brother's distracted."

"Okay but I'll be down to help you with him soon," Alex smiled, having promised JJ she would make sure to help out as much as possible if she wasn't home.

Running up the stairs, Alex slowed down in the hallway, wanting to be quiet in case Emily was still sleeping. Poking her head in the master bedroom, the teen found she need not worried as she found her Mother sitting up in bed, leaning against the headboard with a book in her lap.

"Hey you!" Emily smiled as she looked up to find her daughter in the doorway. "I didn't here you come in! How was school?"

"Good, it was good," Alex nodded, making her way over to the bed and smiling as Emily pulled back the covers for her. "How are you? Did it…was it…is everything okay?" She stuttered, suddenly unsure what to ask. "You're okay?"

"I'm fine sweetheart," Emily wrapped her arm around the teen, placing a kiss on the side of her head. "Obviously we won't know anything for a while, but everything went well. We just have to wait and see now."

"I hate waiting," Alex sighed, placing her head on her Mother's shoulder. "Does it feel different? I mean do you feel any different?"

"I'm not really sure," Emily chuckled as Alex took her hand and began playing with her fingers. "I feel sort of strange but that's probably just because I know what's going on in there," she explained. "It's not like when I got pregnant with you."

"Yeah I guess there was more of a surprise element to that one," Alex laughed as Emily did the same. "I know you and Mum told me not to get my hopes up yet and everything but I…" Emily watched carefully as the teen avoided her gaze. "I really hope this works out," she shrugged.

"Me too kid," Emily once again kissed the top of her daughter's head. "It's all I can think about to be honest. I mean I know I need to prepare myself for the potential disappointment, but it's kind of difficult not to get my hopes up. I just keep imagining what it'll be like, you know?"

"I dreamt about it last night," Alex nodded, tilting her head so she could look up at the older brunette. "You were pregnant. We found out it was a girl."

"You really want a sister huh?" Emily laughed, images of another little girl flashing before her eyes.

"I love Henry, and I would be thrilled if you had a boy," Alex replied. "But yes. I would love a little sister," she admitted. "I just keep imagining a little blonde that looks just like Mum or…"

"Or a tiny brunette that looks just like you," Emily finished the teen's thought, remembering the first moments when she had held Alex in her arms; all tiny limbs and a dark head of hair. "I've had that dream myself," she nodded. "Though I'll be happy no matter what."

"Me too," Alex agreed with a grin. "But for the record I think it's really cool what you and Mum are doing," she said, receiving a confused look from her Mother. "Letting fate decide," she explained with a shrug. "Whatever happens this baby is going to be really, really loved."

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"Henry want to say hi to Mama?" Emily called from where she sat on the family room couch as her cell began to ring. "Here Buddy say hi Mama," she put the phone on speaker.

"Mama!" Henry called, standing beside the couch in his footy pajamas, enjoying a bit of last minute playtime before bed.

"Hi Henry! Hi Baby Boy!" JJ's voice came through the phone, making the little blonde giggle. "I miss you Little Man! Are you taking good care of Mommy for me?" She asked, receiving a bunch of happy babbles in reply. "I'll take that as a yes."

"He's a very good care taker," Emily laughed, running her hand over Henry's head. "Although Jessie should probably get some of the credit. She's acting as my Nanny today too."

"Well then we better give that woman a raise," JJ chuckled. "How are you feeling Em?"

"Mostly the same," Emily replied as Henry climbed up to snuggle up beside her. "Doing my best to keep my mind off it all though. Henry and Alex have been helping with that."

"Is Lex there with you?" JJ asked.

"No she has a paper to write," Emily told her. "She told me to tell you she loves you and she'll text you later."

"Aw okay well be sure to give her a couple hugs and kisses from me," JJ replied, sighing as she could be heard getting comfortable in her hotel room. "You know I forgot what it's like to travel without you. This hotel room seems so empty without you here."

"Now you know how I felt when you were on maternity leave," Emily laughed, rubbing her hand up and down Henry's back as he began to drift off next to her. "How's the case?" She asked since Hotch refused to send her a file to look over, wanting her to truly take her day of rest.

"Honestly? Pretty damn ugly," JJ admitted. "The victims they're…they're young Em; younger than Alex," she explained, Emily remaining silent since she could tell the blonde needed to talk it out. "Of course the case would involve kids when kids are the only thing I can think about. Seems like some kind of sick joke."

"Yeah well sometimes the world can be cruel like that," Emily nodded even though the blonde couldn't see her. "I know how hard cases with kids are. I'm sorry I'm not there with you Baby."

"I'm not," JJ was quick to reply. "You're where you need to be right now. You're doing what you need to be doing for our family and I'm…I'm glad," she told her, a smile in her voice. "That thought alone will be enough to get me through this case."

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Emily didn't wake until she felt the bed shifting beside her, squinting open her eyes to find her daughter crawling underneath the covers on JJ's side of the bed.

"Lex?" Emily's voice was raspy with sleep though she couldn't even remember when she had drifted off. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't mean to wake you," Alex's voice was low as she shifted in the bed, rolling so she was facing the older brunette. "I just…I can't sleep so I came here. I just…I thought maybe I'd sleep better."

Understanding her daughter, Emily knew there was more to it than what Alex was telling her. "What's got you so worried Sweet girl?" She asked as she wrapped an arm around the teen, kissing her forehead. "What's really keeping you up?"

"I told Mum I'd take care of you if she wasn't here," Alex replied, tucking her head under her Mother's chin, not caring that it was a childish move. "I know you said you're fine and everything but I…I can't help feeling a little anxious."

"Oh Sweets, you don't need to be worried. I'm fine," Emily assured her. "There's nothing we can do now besides wait. Whatever's meant to be will happen Honey. And I'm going to be okay no matter what. Okay?"

"Okay," Alex nodded against her Mother's chest as she grabbed a fist full of the older woman's shirt. "Can I…Can I stay in here anyways?" She asked between yawns.

"Sure Sweetheart," Emily laughed lightly, her eyes already beginning to close again as Alex shifted in her arms. "I could use the company anyways," she whispered just as her cell phone began to ring from where it sat on the nightstand next to the bed.

Freezing, Emily felt Alex stiffen in her arms, both knowing that a phone ringing in the middle of the night couldn't mean anything good.

"Mom?" Alex's voice was laced with fear as Emily moved to turn on the lamp reaching out for her phone, which was lit up with a picture of JJ.

"Jen?" Emily answered the phone, her hands shaking as she reached out for her daughter when someone else's voice answered her. "Derek? What…what happened? Where's Jen?" She couldn't help but panic as she felt Alex tighten her hand around hers. "Is she…where is she? How long? I'm…I need to…I have to call Garcia. I need….yes…okay…okay…bye." Emily hung up the phone, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Mom?" Alex once again turned to the older brunette, beyond panicked. "Mom what's wrong?"

"It's your Mum," Emily replied, Alex's tears matching hers. "She's in the hospital."


	15. Chapter 15

**So I decided to update this story again rather than my other since I left you on a bit of a cliffhanger there. I hope you guys enjoy!**

 **Thanks for reading! -J**

 **Chapter 15**

 _"The hos-hospital?"," Alex's eyes were spilling over with tears. "But I thought she was already at the hotel for the night. What happened?"_

 _"I guess they got a call," Emily shrugged, running a shaking hand through her hair. "She was riding with one of the local officers in pursuit of their suspect and they got in an accident," she shook her head. "I have to…I need to go. I have to see her. I have to call Garcia," she said, getting out of bed, looking a little frantic. "Morgan said she was unconscious. She probably has a concussion I need to…I have to go…"_

 _"Mom maybe you shouldn't," Alex was worried, knowing her Mother was panicking. "If it was really bad Uncle Derek would have told you and I don't…Mum wouldn't want you going all the way there. Why don't you wait till morning?"_

 _"I can't," Emily shook her head, unconsciously rubbing a hand over her stomach. "I need to go now. It's the only way I'll…I can't."_

 _"Mom you need to try to…" Alex wanted to say stay calm, before realizing it was too late for that. "Let me go with you. I can go with you."_

 _"They lost track of their suspect after the accident," Emily shook her head. "I can't bring you there when there's an active case. I need to know you're safe," she explained, finally taking a moment to look at the teen who still had tears running down her cheeks. "Hey, come here," she opened up her arms, as she took a deep, calming breath. "It's going to be okay," she wrapped her arms around the younger brunette. "I just…I need to go be there Honey. I need to see Mum and I can help the team."_

 _"Yeah but what about the baby?" Alex hated how small her voice sounded._

 _"I…I don't know," Emily admitted, filled with a deep sadness. "I don't know Sweetheart, but I will be careful and I will try not to stress myself out too much," she assured her. "All we can do is hope for the best."_

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Emily had never had a flight feel so long before. After calling Garcia, who had already been warned by Morgan, Emily had woken Jessie before getting herself ready, throwing a few things into a bag and saying a rather tearful goodbye to Alex who continued to beg her not to go.

As she sat through the flight, nervously bouncing her leg up and down, the brunette suddenly wished she could have a drink, needing something to calm her down. When the plane did finally land, Emily thanked her lucky stars that Penelope Garcia had enough thought to arrange for her to get off the plane first; the brunette rushing off only to find Derek Morgan waiting for her.

"The Doctors said she's going to be fine Em," Morgan told her as soon as she was close enough. "The car was hit on the passenger's side, so she's pretty banged up and she dislocated her shoulder but she's alright. She also has a concussion but she's awake now."

"Just take me to her Derek," Emily shook her head; her partner's words meaning nothing until she saw her wife for herself. "Please just take me to her."

"Okay Em," Morgan nodded, leading the brunette outside to his waiting SUV, not saying anything else as they got in the car and began driving, understanding that Emily Prentiss would not appreciate idle chit-chat at a time like this as he instead focused his attention on getting them to the hospital as fast as possible.

It wasn't until they arrived at the hospital that Morgan tried speaking again, parking the SUV and turning towards his partner and friend. "The rest of the team is back at the precinct. We've got a search going on for this guy since we know what he's driving and we're desperately trying not to lose him," he explained. "Jayje has been arguing to be released since she woke up."

"Of course she has," Emily sighed as they both got out of the car. "Listen Derek, I'm more than willing to help out with the case, but I need to see Jen first. I can…"

"Em no," Morgan shook his head, stopping and turning to stand in front of the brunette before they went inside. "Look technically you're still supposed to be taking it easy. We told JJ that you were on your way and she's already freaking out. You're taking it easy on this one okay? For the little one in there," he nodded towards her stomach.

"Let's just…let's argue about this later," Emily replied with a huff, knowing that Morgan was right, but unable to admit it at the moment. "I just want to see my wife."

Nodding, Morgan lead Emily inside and towards her room, knocking lightly before letting himself in where the blonde was sitting up in bed.

"Oh Morgan thank God, Reid isn't answering my texts," JJ sighed. "Please tell me you guys got…." she broke off as her wife appeared behind their colleague. "Em."

Opening her mouth, Emily tried to think of something to say as she took in the sight of her wife with her arm in a sling and covered in scrapes and bruises, eventually shaking her head as she once again closed her mouth, standing frozen in place.

"Em, I'm okay," JJ told her. "It's just some cuts and bruises. Really. I'm okay," she continued, worried by the brunette's silence. "Emily. Baby come here."

Finding her footing Emily approached the bed, allowing JJ to take her hand as she finally released the breath she had been holding. "God you scared me," she finally spoke, keeping her voice low as she leaned down and placed a kiss on the blonde's head. "You're really okay?"

"Mostly," JJ admitted, as Emily carefully ran her fingers through her hair. "I mean I'm a little pissed that our suspect got away and that, that idiot driver somehow missed our sirens and flashing lights, putting me here," she explained. "And I hate that you had to come all the way here in the middle of the night."

"Yeah well there was no keeping me away," Emily replied as Morgan cleared his throat from where he still stood near the door.

"I need to get back with the team," Morgan told them. "You two take it easy. We'll call you as soon as we have anything."

"Thanks Derek," Emily nodding, watching as her partner left, only turning her attention back to JJ when she heard the blonde sigh. "Jen?"

"I'm sorry Em," JJ looked guilty. "It was supposed to be just two weeks. Two weeks of keeping your blood pressure down and keeping things stress-free and we couldn't even make it one day. I'm just…I'm so sorry," she shook her head, her blue eyes shining with tears that she was obviously struggling to hold back.

"Hey, no," Emily sat on the edge of the bed, placing a kiss on the blonde's forehead. "You have nothing to be sorry for. This isn't your fault Jen, it was just an accident," she assured her. "It'll be okay. Whatever happens Jen. It'll be okay."

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 _Where are you?_ Alex sighed as the message came through her cell phone, not all that surprised that her girlfriend was texting so soon after their class was supposed to start.

 _Soccer field._ Alex typed back, hitting send as she wrapped her arms around her knees, sitting in the middle of the deserted soccer field alone.

Though Alex knew she shouldn't be skipping class, she just could not bring herself to sit in another classroom, wishing she had asked to stay home, as she could not get her mind to focus on school.

"Hey," Spencer sat down next to her girlfriend a few minutes later, placing a hand on her knee. "You're skipping class now?"

"I guess so," Alex shrugged sadly, grateful when Spencer put her arm around her, allowing the shorter brunette to rest her head on her shoulder. "Where does Mrs. Spicer think you are?"

"Looking for you," Spencer chuckled. "I figured honesty was the best option. I told her I was worried about you. What's going on? What are you doing out here?"

"I don't know," Alex sighed, not really able to explain why it was that she suddenly couldn't be bothered to go to class. "Taking a break I guess."

"Right, okay," Spencer nodded, kissing the top of Alex's head. "Your Mum's okay Lex. I mean you talked to her and your Mom. She's okay. They're both okay," she rubbed her hand up and down her girlfriend's back, understanding what was going on, even if Alex wouldn't admit it. "I thought you said you were alright. What's going on?" She asked, waiting a few moments, without getting a reply. "Come on Lex. Talk to me."

"It just never ends," Alex finally replied, hating the fact that her eyes were stinging with tears. "It's always something and I hate that I'm always so scared," she explained, knowing her girlfriend would understand even if she wasn't really making sense. "I know my Mum's okay…but it's just…I don't know," she shook her head in frustration. "My Mom just went through with the implantation and stress isn't…who even knows what will happen now," she sighed.

"You're really looking forward to your Moms having another Baby huh?" Spencer ran her fingers through Alex's hair.

"Very much so," Alex admitted with a small laugh. "And I think that it's really important to my Mom…her being the one to have the baby," she continued. "I'm just worried about what will happen if it doesn't go well. I don't want that for her."

"I know Lex, but can I be honest with you for a second?" Spencer pulled back so she could see her girlfriend better, receiving a nod in reply. "I think you worry to much," she told her. "Your Moms know what they're doing Lex. They know what they're getting themselves into and they know the risks," she continued as gently as possible. "Your Moms are also the strongest people I've ever met. I don't think there's anything those two can't handle. They don't need you to worry."

"I know, but what if…"

"No what ifs," Spencer shook her head before Alex could continue. "You could drive yourself crazy for days thinking about all the what ifs. You need to have a little faith Babe. It's going to be okay."

Smiling, Alex leaned in, placing a brief kiss on Spencer's lips. "Thank you," she said when she pulled away. "I'm sorry I'm always such a mess."

"You're no such thing," Spencer grinned, standing and pulling the shorter brunette up with her. "Now come on, you're not skipping classes, you'll end up in detention again and I will not date a delinquent."

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"Well ladies you ready to spring this place and go see your kids?" Morgan asked as he let himself into JJ's hospital room later that day, a big goofy grin on his face as he threw a 'Get Well' bear at the blonde.

"Oh gee thanks," JJ rolled her eyes as she accepted the bear before realizing what Morgan had said. "Wait what? What do you mean go see the kids? You guys caught him?"

"Someone saw him trying to dump his car and called it in," Morgan nodded. "We caught him trying to abduct another kid."

"Thank God," JJ sighed in relief, grateful for a quick end to the case both because she was injured and because there were kids involved. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as we get you two to the airstrip," Morgan replied, turning to Emily.

"I'm on it," the brunette nodded, leaving the room to search for a doctor to get JJ released.

"How you feeling Blondie?" Morgan asked once Emily was out of the room, figuring JJ was more likely to be honest with her wife out of the room since she didn't want to stress her out.

"I don't know," JJ shrugged. "I'm fine just…a little angry with myself I guess. Emily has been telling me all morning that it's not my fault, which I know is true, and she keeps telling me everything will be fine but I can't help thinking…Nothing can ever just be simple with us can it? We can't just try and have a baby and expect everything to go smoothly. I mean Emily couldn't even get a whole day without having to stress about our job."

"Well that kind of comes with the job though doesn't it?" Morgan pointed out. "Listen Jayje, don't underestimate your wife okay? She's strong…you both are…you guys are going to be fine," he assured her with his signature grin. "You guys don't even know that anything has or hasn't happened yet," he said, referring to the baby. "Don't start acting like it's over alright? That kid is going to be a Prentiss and a Jareau, they're going to be strong; I'm sure of that."

"That's Derek," JJ smiled, her eyes getting a little teary, a fact which she immediately tried to hide as Emily returned with the Doctor.

"Well Doc, is she free to go? She's got some kids who I bet are anxious to see her at home," Morgan asked, not missing the confused look that Emily was giving her wife.

"Yes, Agent Jareau is being released," the Doctor noted, checking his chart. "You'll need to keep that arm in a sling for a few days though, and you're likely to have a bit of a headache. I suggest lots of rest. Take a few days off from chasing the bad guys."

"With pleasure," JJ sighed. "Derek let the guys know we're on our way, I've just gotta get dressed," she carefully pulled herself out of bed. "Em will you help me?"

"Of course," Emily nodded, following the blonde into the attached bathroom. "You okay Jen?" She asked once they were alone, carefully studying the blonde's face.

"Better now," JJ replied as she stepped into Emily's arms, feeling herself relax for the first time since the accident. "I just want to go home."

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When Emily and JJ made it home early the next evening it was to find the main floor of the house quiet. Looking at the time they figured Jessie was likely giving Henry his bath, making their way upstairs to hear the telltale signs of a little one splashing around in the tub. Deciding to check in on Alex first, the couple headed for the teen's bedroom, finding the young brunette cuddled up next to her girlfriend who was reading their current English class novel out loud.

Smiling, the Mothers stood in the doorway for a few minutes, watching and listening as Spencer read while running her fingers through their daughter's hair, both looking content and relaxed.

"Well I didn't realize it was already story time," Emily was the one to finally interrupt, laughing as Alex immediately shot up, a surprised look on her face.

"Mum!" Alex exclaimed, jumping out of bed and running towards JJ, stopping short just in front of her. "Wait, are you okay? Can I hug you?"

"You better," JJ chuckled as Alex wrapped her arms around her. "I'm okay Baby," she kissed the side of Alex's head while the teen tried her best to be careful. "I'm okay."

"And what about you? Are you okay?" Alex reluctantly released her hold on JJ and moved to give Emily a hug while Spencer came over to greet the blonde.

"I'm fine Sweetheart," Emily smiled as she returned the hug, feeling the teen tighten her hold slightly, obviously relieved to have her Mothers home. "Everything's going to be okay. Mum's going to take a few days off to heal and I'm staying out of the field for the remainder of the two weeks still," she explained. "We'll find out then whether or not I need to extend that time or not."

"Well what happens if you don't?" Alex asked, looking up at her Mother with big brown eyes that showed her obvious worry.

"Then we try again," Emily gave a reassuring smile. "We're not giving up Honey and neither should you."


	16. Chapter 16

**So I'm not entirely happy with this chapter…I feel like I could have done better but I hope you'll enjoy it anyways!**

 **Thanks to everyone who's still reading! -J**

 **Chapter 16**

The morning of Emily's doctor's appointment she was awake early. The brunette didn't need to look at the clock to know that it was much too early to be up, the fact that her room was still bathed in darkness telling her all she needed to know.

Sighing, she turned towards JJ, finding the blonde still sleeping peacefully. Knowing she wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep, Emily placed a light kiss on her wife's forehead before carefully climbing out of bed, making a quick trip to the bathroom before deciding to head downstairs, figuring she could start on breakfast.

The hallway was still dark, and since Emily assumed that everyone was still sleeping, she was startled when the bathroom door opened and Alex stepped out into the hall; both brunettes nearly jumping out of their skin.

"Jesus! Lex! What are you doing up?" Emily put a hand over her heart, doing her best to keep her voice down.

"What am I doing up? I was in the bathroom! What are you doing?" Alex's heart was racing.

"I just…well I can't sleep," Emily admitted, reaching out and rubbing her hand up and down her daughter's shoulder. "I didn't mean to scare you. I didn't think anyone would be up. I was just going to go downstairs…maybe start breakfast."

"How about a hot chocolate?" Alex suggested, Emily immediately raising an eyebrow in question. "I can't really sleep either. I've been tossing and turning for like an hour."

"Come on," Emily wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders, leading her down the stairs and towards the kitchen where she immediately set out to make some hot chocolate. "So trouble sleeping huh?" She handed the teen a mug of hot chocolate before following her into the family room where they could both curl up on the couch.

"Guess I've just got a lot on my mind," Alex shrugged, taking a slow sip of her drink. "And I'm nervous…excited about what might happen…but nervous."

"Yeah," Emily nodded, taking a sip of her own drink. "Me too."

"Do you really not feel like you know?" Alex asked a question she had been asking her Mother for the last two weeks. "I mean you don't feel different at all?"

"Not really," Emily shook her head, wishing she could give a different answer. "I really wish I felt something, but I feel the same," she explained. "That doesn't necessarily mean I'm not pregnant though. I mean not everyone experiences symptoms this early."

"I know," Alex nodded. "I've been doing some research," she admitted with a small laugh as Emily reached out and took her hand. "Can't I come with you today? Please?"

"You need to go to school honey," Emily replied, giving the teen's hand a squeeze. "As much as I know you want to be there I just…I can't Sweetheart."

"But why not?" Alex asked, her eyes begging. "I just really want to be there Mom."

"I know," Emily smiled. "I know you do. But if things don't go…If I'm not…I just I don't know how to handle that if you're there with me."

Nodding Alex was quiet for a moment, obviously considering this before once again looking back up at her Mother. "You guys will be here when I get home?" She eventually asked.

"We'll be here," Emily nodded, having taken the whole day off, unsure how she would be able to handle work if she got bad news. "And whatever happens, you'll be the first to know."

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"Do you think they leave us in here on purpose?" Emily asked as she sat in the examination room at her Doctor's office with JJ, her leg jumping up and down nervously. "They must get some sort of joy out of making people wait. I mean we just sat in the waiting room for like half and hour only to be moved in here to wait for the Doctor, like we don't have anything better to do…like we aren't waiting for big news or anything."

"Emily relax," JJ couldn't help but laugh, unused to seeing the brunette so shaken. "Dr. Alexander has a lot of patients. You know that," she placed a kiss on her wife's temple. "She'll be here soon. Just try and relax. Take a couple deep breaths."

"I just want to know Jen," Emily whined, leaning her head against the blonde's shoulder, sighing when JJ immediately threaded her fingers into her hair.

"I do too Baby," JJ agreed. "But we'll know soon enough. Just a little bit longer," she said, continuing to run her fingers through her wife's hair, knowing she was appreciating the comfort. "I dreamt about the baby last night," she eventually decided to fill the silence. "I don't know if they were a boy or a girl but they were here Em. They were here and they were wonderful," her voice was just above a whisper. "I know you're worried about what happened…about all the stress but I think this is our time Em. I really believe that."

"I hope you're right Jen," Emily replied, keeping her face hidden. "I really hope you're right because I want this…I want it more than anything."

"Me too," JJ smiled, kissing the top of the brunette's head. "But no matter what happens, we'll get through it…together," she felt the need to add. "We'll get through this. You, Me, Alex and Henry…we'll get through it."

Nodding against her wife's shoulder, Emily was unable to reply, taking a few deep breaths as JJ continued to play with her hair until Dr. Alexander entered the room a few minutes later.

"Emily, JJ, it's nice to see you again," the Doctor greeted with a warm smile. "How are we doing?"

"A little anxious to be honest," JJ was the one to reply, giving Emily's head one last kiss before pulling away. "We're really looking forward to just finding out if we're pregnant or not."

"Of course," Dr. Alexander nodded, turning her attention to Emily. "How are you feeling Emily? Any changes?"

"No, not really," Emily shook her head. "Actually I feel pretty much the same," she shrugged. "We had a kind of stressful week and to be honest I'm a little afraid that it may have ruined our chances."

"Okay well let's not get too ahead of ourselves," Dr. Alexander replied. "It's not uncommon for women not to experience any symptoms after an implantation," she continued. "It's early. Just because you don't feel any different doesn't mean you aren't pregnant," she explained. "So how about we get your blood test going then? Are you ready?"

"Yes," Emily nodded, wishing she sounded more confident as JJ reached out and took her hand. "I'm ready."

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"Are you excited?" Spencer asked Alex later that day, the couple sitting together on the school bus headed home.

"I am," Alex nodded, her attention on her hand linked with Spencer's. "I'm nervous too though."

"I know," Spencer chuckled, leaning in and placing a quick kiss against Alex's temple. "Distract yourself for a while. Tell me a story. Something you've never told me before."

Thinking for a moment, Alex remained quiet, her attention still focused on her hand, eventually breaking the silence. "My parents talked about adopting another kid once," she revealed quietly.

"Really?" Spencer sounded surprised.

"I used to ask for a little brother or sister all the time when I was younger; before I knew I was adopted," Alex explained. "I wanted siblings and I think they wanted me to have some as well, but I think it was hard for them since I didn't know I was adopted. After I finally found out they talked about it."

"What happened then?" Spencer asked. "How come they never ended up adopting again?"

"They never really told me," Alex shrugged. "I mean I know it's a long process so my only guess is they didn't want me to get my hopes up or anything," she continued. "I guess something could have happened and they never told me. I'm not sure."

"Do you wish they would have?" Adopted another baby I mean?" Spencer then asked, just as their bus reached their stop, the pair grabbing their bags and getting off, rejoining hands once they reached the sidewalk.

"Sometimes," Alex nodded. "After they died I remember thinking it would be easier if I had a sibling….that I wouldn't feel so lonely," she explained. "But on the other hand I'm glad that some little kid didn't have to go through that too you know?"

"That makes sense," Spencer replied, the pair almost to their houses.

"Will you come with me?" Alex blurted out when they reached her driveway.

"What?" Spencer turned towards her girlfriend, slightly confused. "You mean you want me to come in? To find out if your Mom is pregnant?"

"Yes," Alex nodded quickly. "Please."

"I'm not sure if I should Lex," Spencer looked torn. "This is like a big moment. It's a family moment."

"You are family," Alex argued, still holding to Spencer's hand tightly. "Please I want you there…I _need_ you there. My Moms will understand. Please Spence."

Looking into Alex's big, brown eyes, Spencer was unable to resist, sighing as she pulled Alex towards her house. "Come on."

Beaming, Alex allowed Spencer to lead her towards the house, using her key to open up the front door. "I'm home," she called as soon as she entered, suddenly buzzing with excitement. "Mom? Mum?" She tried again, hearing Henry running towards her. "Hey Buddy!" She bent down greeting her little brother with a big hug, missing the new t-shirt he was wearing; a shirt, which was not missed by Spencer whose mouth immediately dropped open. "How are you doing cutie? Where are Mommies huh?"

"Um Lex," Spencer stuttered. "I think you missed something."

"What?" Alex turned to her girlfriend. "What are you talking about? What did I miss?"

"Alex his shirt. Look at Henry's shirt," Spencer pointed excitedly, unable to believe that the other brunette had missed it.

"Wha….Oh my…." Alex's eyes immediately filled with tears as she looked down at Henry's blue shirt, which said 'Big Brother' in big white letters. "Oh my God," she looked up to find both her Mothers peaking around the corner, big, teary smiles on their faces. "Mom you're…are you….you are? Really?"

"Really," Emily nodded, watching as Alex handed Henry to Spencer before practically running over and throwing her arms around her. "You're gonna be a big sister again kiddo," she kissed the side of the teen's head.

"Oh my God," Alex repeated, sniffling a little. "I am so, so happy."

"Me too Babe," Emily laughed. "Me too."

"Congratulations guys," Spencer came over, giving JJ a one armed hug since she was still holding Henry before switching places with Alex and hugging Emily.

"I just can't believe it!" Alex was practically gushing now. "This is just so…I'm so…and I….Oh my goodness."

"You sound just like your Mother," JJ laughed, kissing Alex's head. "You should have heard her at the appointment. She couldn't even string together a sentence."

"Yeah well you weren't much better," Emily laughed.

"That's true," JJ agreed with a laugh of her own.

"So you just had your blood test today right? I mean it's still early?" Spencer asked carefully, not quite knowing exactly how IVF worked.

"It's still very early," Emily nodded. "So we would appreciate if you would keep the news to yourself for the next couple weeks until my ultrasound," she asked, receiving nods from both teens. "We got Henry the shirt to tell you but we're going to wait until we've gone for the ultrasound before we tell everyone else."

"But you're really pregnant?" Alex had to ask.

"Yes," Emily laughed. "I mean obviously anything could still happen as it is early, but my ultrasound is in two weeks and I should be able to hear the heartbeat then and confirm whether one or two of the eggs have taken."

"Okay," Alex nodded, a big smile on her face, once again giving Emily a hug, making the older brunette laugh.

"Come on I think this calls for a celebration," JJ then suggested, big grin on her face. "I'll call for pizza!"

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"Hey Kiddo, you heading to bed anytime soon?" JJ poked her head into Alex's room later that night; finding the brunette sitting up in bed, book in hand.

"I was just finishing up this chapter," Alex nodded, reading a moment more before grabbing her bookmark and placing it in the novel before putting it on her bedside table. "Is Mom already sleeping?"

"She fell asleep with Henry. I just put him in his room," JJ replied, taking a seat on the edge of the teen's bed. "I think the excitement of the day wore her out."

"That and the fact that she probably didn't sleep at all last night," Alex laughed as JJ nodded her agreement. "I don't think I've ever seen her so happy though. I'm really glad this worked out the first time and everything."

"Me too Kid," JJ smiled, leaning back on the bed, getting comfortable. "She was pretty excited today, but I'm fairly certain I've seen her this happy before," she said, received a confused look from Alex. "Well she was pretty thrilled when you started calling her Mom and basically any time she gets to spend time with you she's happy. Your Mom changed a lot when you came to live with her, she has been so much happier."

Smiling Alex seemed to think about this for a moment before speaking again. "Remember when I first found out about who Mom was? I was so upset," she laughed. "It's hard to believe that was only a couple years ago. It was all so confusing for me at first but I just felt that connection with her right away…with both of you really," she said, making JJ smile. "I just can't believe we're going to have another baby in the house in 9 months."

"Me either," JJ laughed. "I don't think it has fully sunk in yet. Probably once we go for the ultrasound."

"Do you think I can come to the ultrasound?" Alex then asked. "I know Mom was nervous about me being there today and I know she's probably still nervous that something could happen but I really want to go," she was practically begging. "Please? I just want to be there. No matter what happens. Will you talk to Mom? Please?"

"Yes I will talk to her," JJ sighed though she was smiling, unable to resist the teen's big, brown eyes. "And you know what? I'm willing to bet Mom will want you there."


	17. Chapter 17

**So I've decided to end this story with this final chapter, and I feel like it was the perfect place to end.**

 **I really think you'll all enjoy it and stay tuned for the next installment, which I will get started as soon as I can!**

 **Thanks so much for reading! -J**

 **Chapter 17**

"What are you thinking about?" Spencer asked Alex a week and a half later, the pair lying across the floor together in the Prentiss family room, doing their homework. "You seem kind of out of it."

"Guess I was just daydreaming a bit," Alex turned towards her girlfriend with a smile, picking her pencil back up. "I was just thinking about the baby."

"Of course you were," Spencer laughed, having discussed the baby with Alex on multiple occasions throughout the week since they were the only people who knew outside of Emily, JJ and Jessie. "You thinking about names again or just excited about going to the appointment with your Moms?"

"A little bit of both," Alex couldn't help but laugh. "I just can't stop thinking about what the baby will be like. I mean I know I have so much time to wait but I'm just so excited," she explained, big smile on her face. "When we found out Mum was pregnant it was such a shocker and I was really excited once everything was okay between her and my Mom but this is just so different. I just cannot wait to meet whoever this little person turns out to be. I sound crazy don't I?"

"A little bit," Spencer laughed. "But don't worry, I think it's adorable," she said, rolling Alex onto her back before moving to straddle her hips. "You are so cute," she grinned, placing a kiss on Alex's nose before moving down to her lips.

Moaning, Alex immediately allowed Spencer to deepen the kiss, the couple getting so caught up in each other that they didn't hear the front door open. It wasn't until Emily cleared her throat that Spencer quickly jumped off of Alex; both teens' cheeks reddening in embarrassment while JJ and Emily stood near the couch with slightly amused looks on their faces.

"Hi girls," Emily was trying not to laugh since both teens looked like they'd rather be anywhere else. "We're home, clearly you didn't hear us come in."

"Clearly," Alex nodded, pulling down her tshirt, which had ridden up, before sitting up next to Spencer.

"Doing some homework?" JJ asked with a laugh, unable to hold it in.

"We were just taking a little break," Alex replied, placing a comforting hand on Spencer's knee, knowing that the other brunette was probably mortified, as she hated getting caught in these types of situations. "You two have fantastic timing."

"We know," JJ laughed again, taking Emily's hand. "Now how does Chinese sound for dinner? Because Garcia is on her way with it," she called as she pulled Emily into the kitchen so they could grab plates and utensils. "Would you like to stay Spencer?"

"Oh...uh sure," Spencer nodded, obviously still flustered.

"Just remember, Garcia still doesn't know about the baby so you two need to be careful," Emily added, poking her head out of the kitchen to find, Alex tickling Spencer's side, obviously trying to get her to relax. "She'll go nuts if one of you slips up and she'll tell everyone else before we get the chance."

"How have you even been able to keep it from her?" Spencer asked, stopping Alex's teasing by quickly grabbing her hand and holding it tightly. "I mean didn't everyone know you guys were going for the implantation?"

"Yeah but we lied and told them we wouldn't know anything until this week," JJ explained, coming out to set the table. "When we took that day off together we told them there was a few more tests we had to do but that we wouldn't find anything out for another two weeks."

"We're fairly certain Reid knows we're lying, and it's likely that Garcia has done her research and knows the truth too, but they're letting us stick to our story so it's all good," Emily smiled.

"It must be hard keeping it from them for this long," Spencer said as she and Alex began cleaning up their books. "You guys were just on a case. How do you even keep such big news from a bunch of profilers when you're with them all day, every day?"

"It's not easy," Emily shook her head. "But besides Garcia, they're pretty much giving us our privacy."

"Which means they definitely know," JJ shrugged with a laugh. "But it's nice pretending."

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Two days later, Friday afternoon, JJ and Emily picked Alex up early from school and headed towards the Doctor's office, the trio too nervous and excited to really speak as JJ drove them. When they had arrived at the Dr. Alexander's office, Alex had taken Emily's hand, shaking slightly as they sat together in the waiting room.

"Are you nervous?" Emily leaned over to ask, unable to ignore her daughter's shaking hand in hers. "Because you don't need to be nervous Sweetheart."

"I'm more excited than nervous," Alex shook her head. "It's just…I don't know it feels weird. You're not nervous?"

"No," Emily replied straight away, surprising even herself. "No I don't think I am nervous anymore actually. Do you want to know why?" She asked, Alex nodding her reply. "Because I've got you and Henry and your Mum," she smiled, squeezing Alex's hand. "And I've got this baby," she placed her other hand on her abdomen. "I really believe that."

"Okay," Alex nodded with a smile, leaning in and placing a kiss on her Mother's cheek just as the receptionist came out.

"Emily?" She turned towards the brunette. "You can come back now, Dr. Alexander will be ready for you in a few minutes."

Emily kissed Alex's head before pulling her up from her seat, JJ on her other side as they made their way back towards the examination room where Emily immediately climbed up onto the examination table while Alex and JJ took their places at her side.

"Remember when we were doing this for Henry?" Alex had a grin on her face, still holding on to Emily's hand, while JJ was running her fingers through her wife's hair. "Feels like it wasn't that long ago."

"Do you remember how excited you were?" JJ grinned, remembering her daughter's clear excitement about becoming a big sister. "You could not stop talking about all the things you were going to do with your little brother or sister. You have big plans now that you're going to have another little one to play around with?"

"You bet I do," Alex laughed. "Henry is like the best little guy ever. I cannot wait for another little one. It's going to be so much fun," she grinned. "I always wanted siblings and being a big sister is pretty much the best."

"Well you are very good at it," Emily laughed as the door opened and Dr. Alexander came in.

"Good afternoon Emily, JJ," she greeted. "And who do we have here?"

"This is our daughter Alex," JJ was the one to reply. "She wanted to come in and hear her little brother or sister's heartbeat. She's pretty excited."

"As she should be. It's nice to meet you Alex," Dr. Alexander smiled. "How have you been feeling Emily?"

"Well I'm definitely starting to feel more tired," Emily replied with a small smile. "I haven't had any morning sickness yet, but there have been a few smells that have been making me feel a little nauseous," she explained. "Besides that I'm still feeling really good."

"Good, that's good," Dr. Alexander nodded, writing a few things down in Emily's file. "So are you ready to see your baby?" She then asked, rolling the ultrasound machine closer before lifting Emily's shirt. "Now remember, we might not be able to hear a heartbeat this time, but it is possible," she explained. "We should be able to get an image up though, and if we don't hear the heartbeat we'll bring you back in within the next week or two. So let's see what we can find."

Feeling as if her stomach was full of nervous butterflies, Alex reached out for JJ's hand with her free hand, watching as the doctor used the ultrasound wand over Emily's stomach, moving it around until she found what she was looking for.

"Well look at that. There's your baby," Dr. Alexander said, pointing to what looked like a blob in the middle of the screen. "And if we're lucky…" she moved to turn up the volume, smiling when a beating sound filled the room. "And that is your baby's heartbeat."

"Oh…oh wow…that's….wow," Emily's eyes immediately filled with tears, overwhelmed by her sudden joy, looking up to see both JJ and Alex holding back their own tears.

"That's our baby Em," JJ sounded emotional. "I can't believe it. It's just so…does the heartbeat sound different?" She suddenly asked, turning towards Dr. Alexander with a panicked look on her face.

"What? What do you mean?" Emily also turned towards her doctor.

"Is something wrong?" The smile on Alex's face falling as she squeezed her Mothers' hands tightly.

"No, no everything is fine," Dr. Alexander was quick to assure the group. "I just think that there might be…" she continued moving the wand over Emily's abdomen. "Ah yes just what I thought, there it is."

"There what is?" Emily asked, trying to remain calm, but feeling completely lost. "What is it? What do you see? What am I looking at?"

"That," Dr. Alexander pointed towards the screen with a smile. "Is your other baby."

"Other…wait…what…what do you…"

"Twins!" Alex exclaimed over Emily's stuttering. "It's twins?"

"It appears so," Dr. Alexander nodded, turning towards Emily, who looked rather stunned. "This is baby number two. It looks like both eggs have implanted successfully. Congratulations ladies," she grinned. "You're having twins."

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"Twins! Twins! You're having twins!" Alex couldn't help but laugh as she, Emily and JJ flopped down on the family room couch almost an hour later, having come home to find that Jessie had taken Henry out for a walk. "I can't even believe it."

"I'm pretty sure I'm still in shock," Emily replied, though she smiled as JJ reached out and took her hand. "I mean I know the chances of multiples increases with IVF but I really didn't think…twins," she shook her head. "Two babies."

"It's kind of amazing," JJ nodded, a smile on her face. "I mean I never imagined twins but it's…it's pretty great."

"I think it's fantastic," Alex was grinning, having been filled with a buzzing excitement since they left the Doctor's office. "Both eggs took. Two little babies one from each of you," she said. "It just seems so perfect."

"She's right," JJ nodded. "It is pretty perfect."

"Two babies is going to be a lot of work," Emily pointed out.

"Yep," JJ agreed.

"And Henry's not exactly independent yet. He's still young. He'll barely be two by the time the babies come. 3 kids under the age of 3."

"Yep," JJ repeated. "You regretting it?" She turned her head towards Emily who immediately grinned a grin that looked exactly like Alex's.

"Not even a little," Emily laughed, pulling JJ forward into a kiss. "Let's tell everyone. Let's call your parents and my Mom and then invite the team over and tell them all," she said. "Lex call the girls as well. They should be here for this. Can we Jen? Do you want to?"

"Yes," JJ laughed, replying straight away. "Let's do it."

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"Emily? What a nice surprise! How are you darling?" Elizabeth answered the phone, sounding pleased to be hearing from her daughter.

"I'm good Mother. I'm actually here with Jen," Emily replied, looking towards her wife who still had a big smile on her face after the phone call they just had with her parents, sharing their big news. "We had some news we wanted to share with you."

"News?" Elizabeth sounded curious. "What's going on?"

"Well Mother it looks like you're going to be a grandmother again," Emily grinned as her Mother gasped on the other end of the phone.

"Oh Emily. Oh darling are you…you're…really?" Elizabeth struggled to get the words out.

"I'm pregnant Mom," Emily replied, her eyes filling with tears, feeling incredibly happy. "And that's not even the best part," she added. "Remember how I told you Jen and I decided to use and an egg from her and from me? Well apparently we've got two little babies who would like to join the family."

"Two!" Elizabeth exclaimed, the excitement in her voice, a sound Emily wasn't quite familiar with. "You're having twins? Oh Emily! That's so wonderful! I am so happy for you and Jennifer."

"Thanks Elizabeth," JJ replied since she could tell that Emily was too emotional to talk. "We're pretty excited about it too. We'll definitely have our work cut out for us, but we're really quite thrilled."

"This is just the greatest news," Elizabeth then said. "I'm in New York at the moment but I'll be home in a few days. May I stop by when I'm back in the city?"

"Of course," JJ responded right away. "That would be great. Let us know when you'll be back and we can have dinner."

"I'll do that," Elizabeth replied. "I'm so happy for you two. I'll be in touch soon. I love you both."

"We love you too Mom," Emily finally found her voice. "We'll see you soon."

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When JJ and Emily called each team member to ask them to come over, they weren't surprised by how quickly they all agreed; knowing that the BAU members were anxiously awaiting news about a new Prentiss/Jareau family member. Alex had also called her friends and asked them to move their sleepover to her house for the night, explaining that the team was coming over for pizza and she really wanted to see them.

Though they had been excited to tell the grandparents the big news, the couple could not wait to tell their team, since they knew they would all be thrilled; especially Garcia.

"Mom, Derek and Reid just pulled up," Alex poked her head into the kitchen where Emily was preparing drinks. "That's everyone now! Can we tell them right away? Garcia's asking a lot of questions."

"We'll tell them as soon we've got everyone's drinks," Emily laughed. "So come on, come help me," she said, grabbing a beer for Morgan and a soda for Reid, knowing what they liked. "Let's share the news before Garcia tortures it out of your Mum."

Laughing, Alex could see Garcia pretty much holding JJ hostage in the corner, obviously asking a million questions while she bounced Henry on her hip.

"Alright everyone, Jen, Alex, Henry and I have something we'd like to tell you," Emily announced as she handed out drinks, grabbing Alex's hand after giving Morgan his beer as JJ took Henry from Garcia before meeting her wife and daughter in the middle of the room.

"Oh yay! Tell us! Tell us!" Garcia was practically squealing as Morgan put his arm around her.

"Baby girl, relax," Morgan chuckled. "They're telling us."

"And we have no idea what it's about," Rossi added with a small smile, immediately receiving an elbow in his ribs from Hotch.

"Look we know you all probably already know," JJ laughed.

"I don't know!" Olivia pointed out from where she was sitting with Spencer and Zoey.

"Well for those of you who are not profilers and haven't already guessed," Emily smiled, pausing for dramatic affect. "We brought you all here tonight to tell you that…I'm pregnant!"

"YES!" Garcia didn't even wait for the full word to be out of Emily's mouth before she ran over, throwing her arms around the brunette's neck. "Oh I am so so happy!

"Congratulations," Hotch smiled, hugging JJ since Garcia didn't seem to want to let Emily go.

"That's so awesome!" Both Zoey and Olivia exclaimed, laughing as they pulled Alex in for a hug, while Spencer kissed her girlfriend on the cheek.

"We're really excited," Alex grinned, holding on to Spencer's hand but remaining next to her Mother. "By next summer we're going to have two more little members of our family," she said, still grinning as she waited through the silence for this news to sink in.

"Wait. Did you just say two?" Reid finally asked, looking slightly puzzled as he looked from JJ to Emily.

"What? Two!" Garcia gasped also looking around for confirmation.

"Seriously?" Morgan asked. "Really Princess? Two?"

"Two babies," Emily nodded, grateful when Morgan prevented Garcia from grabbing her again and he moved in for a hug. "We're having twins!"


End file.
